OMBUDSMAN Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the filing of plunder charges against two former deputy commissioners of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and another private individual in relation to the alleged P50 million extortion activity for the release of over 1,000 Chinese detainees.
Former Immigration Deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, together with Wenceslao Sombero, Jr., president of the Asian Gaming Service Providers Association, Inc. (AGSPA), allegedly violated Republic Act 7080 for the alleged P50 million extortion in exchange for the release of 1,316 arrested Chinese nationals who were violating Philippine immigration laws.
According to the Ombudsman, based on the investigations conducted, it was established that Argosino and Robles received P50 million from Chinese businessman Jack Lam in a deal facilitated by Sombero.
The Ombudsman found that on November 27, 2016, "Argosino and Robles, in connivance with Sombero, accumulated or acquired ill-gotten wealth in the amount of P50 million, through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts committed on a single day."
Argosino, Robles, and Sombero also face one count each for direct bribery and violation of Section 3(e) of the Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Ombudsman said.
They will also be charged with two counts for violation of Presidential Decree 46, making it punishable for public officials and employees to receive, and for private persons to give, gifts on any occasion, including Christmas, she said.
Morales said BI Intelligence Chief Charles Calima, Jr. also faces one count each for direct bribery and for violation of Section 3(e) of RA 3019 while Lam will be charged with one count of violation of PD 46 for giving P50 million to the BI officials.
"While the amount returned by Argosino to the Department of Justice lacks One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00), it cannot excuse them from being indicted for Plunder since they failed to controvert, by clear and convincing evidence, the claims of Norman Ng and Alex Yu (Lam’s business associates) that money, amounting to P50 million, changed hands at the City of Dreams in the City of Manila," the Resolution said.
This is aside from Robles' admission that “they took possession of all five bags containing the P50 million," it added.
The Ombudsman gave no credence to Argosino and Robles' claim that they merely took custody of the money for safekeeping and as evidence in an ongoing investigation into illegal online gambling, noting that "their failure to immediately report to the proper investigating authority, or at the very least, their superiors, (DOJ) Sec. (Vitaliano) Aguirre and Commissioner (Jaime) Morente, that they had custody of the P50 million, contradicts their professed intentions.”
Morales added that their acts of giving P2 million to Sombero; keeping the remaining money with them from November 27, 2016 to December 8, 2016, instead of turning over the same to the proper authorities for safekeeping; and negotiating with, agreeing to give and actually delivering P18 million to Calima on December 9, 2016 as his share in the P50 million, are all acts of ownership, which showed that they treated the P50 million that they received as their own.
The Ombudsman said that Argosino and Robles used their official functions as deputy commissioners of the BI in the commission of the said crimes while Sombero acted as a conspirator and middle man.
She further said that Sombero's indispensable role and representation as president of AGSPA paved the way for the consummation of the transaction.
On the other hand, Calima's criminal liability stems from his participation in the extortion plot as he received P18 million from Argosino and Robles to, among other things, keep his silence, she explained. (SDR/SunStar Philippines)