Suspects in casino scam flee Phl, says Pagcor

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) reported yesterday that the four members of an international syndicate allegedly involved in a P150-million scam in government casinos were able to slip out of the country using multiple passports.

Jay Santiago, vice president of Pagcor’s corporate and legal services department, told a public hearing at the House of Representatives that the four members of the Singaporean-led syndicate were able to leave the Philippines despite the issuance of hold departure orders against them.

Santiago said the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration should not be blamed for the escape of the syndicate members who allegedly use multiple passports.

Santiago confirmed the escape of syndicate members Lu Chu Ben alias Ben Lui and two of his companions. Lu is said to be from Singapore.

He showed the members of the committee, chaired by Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) footage showing the modus operandi of Lu and the other suspects who were playing baccarat at the airport casino in April. The fraud was discovered only on May 8.

The CCTV footage showed one of the suspects with a small camera hidden under his sleeves that recorded the sequence of cards.

The recording would then be sent to another player through a cellphone.

Pagcor president and chief operating officer Jorge Sarmiento said the state gaming firm red-flagged the group after Pagcor received information and arrested the members of the syndicate.

Sarmiento placed the amount of money lost to the syndicate in April at P121.078 million for the Airport Casino; P17 million for the Heritage Hotel Casino and P19 million for the Hyatt Hotel Casino.

Pagcor had issued a circular to all casino branches informing them of the group and the fraud, and asking them to be more vigilant on the manner of cutting playing cards.

Santiago said all suspects were charged with syndicated estafa in the Parañaque Regional Trial Court, but the Department of Justice (DOJ) later downgraded the case to simple estafa and allowed the suspects to post bail.

He said they are closely coordinating with other government agencies to make sure that the syndicate members would no longer enter the country.

Santiago said they have asked the International Police (Interpol) to include the suspects in the Interpol’s red notice list after it filed a case against them before the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office.

Santiago said the suspects were charged with a P150-million syndicated estafa case upon their arrest.

They, however, were able to post bail after the city fiscal downgraded the case to simple estafa.

The suspects were caught allegedly using sophisticated communication devices to cheat while playing card games at a Pagcor casino last May.

The DOJ gave former Pagcor chair Efraim Genuino more time to answer the graft charge filed against him in connection with rice donations worth over P3 million that were allegedly used for his two sons’ election campaign last year. – With Edu Punay, Sandy Araneta