Ex-Immigration commissioners face plunder raps over P50 million extortion

MANILA, Philippines — Former Bureau of Immigration (BI) commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, together with retired police officer Wenceslao “Wally” Sombero Jr., have been charged in court with plunder for allegedly extorting P50 million from Macau-based gambling tycoon Jack Lam in 2016.

Filed by the Office of the Ombudsman, the cases against the three former law enforcers include plunder under Republic Act 7080, graft under RA 3019 and direct bribery under the Revised Penal Code.

Argosino, Robles and Sombero were also charged, together with Lam, with violation of Presidential Decree 46 which prohibits public officials from receiving gifts, presents or money from a private person on any occasion.

The cases stemmed from Argosino and Robles’ alleged receipt of a P50-million bribe from Lam in exchange for the release of 1,316 Chinese employees of Lam’s Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga.

The Chinese workers were arrested by the BI on Nov. 24, 2016 on charges of overstaying and other violations of immigration laws.

Based on the charge sheets prepared by graft investigation and prosecution officer Lucielo Ramirez Jr., the bribe money was received by Argosino and Robles on Nov. 27, 2016 in two tranches – the first amounting to P20 million was supposedly received at about 2 a.m. and the second at 5:45 a.m. 

The ombudsman said the handing of bribe money took place at City of Dreams Hotel and Casino in Parañaque City and was facilitated by Sombero, who was then the president of Asian Gaming Service Providers Association Inc. (AGSPA).

The ombudsman said Argosino and Robles, in conspiracy with Sombero, “used their official position, authority and influence to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense and to the damage” of the government.

The charge sheets were approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales on Feb. 23, 2018.

The ombudsman recommended no bail bond for the plunder case, while bail for the graft case was recommended at P30,000, for direct bribery at P20,000 and for violation of PD 46 at P10,000.

On the other hand, the ombudsman granted the appeal of former BI intelligence chief Charles Calima Jr. and ordered the dismissal of graft and bribery charges against him “for lack of probable cause.”

The ombudsman, in a consolidated order approved by Morales on Jan. 3, gave weight to the testimony of BI Commissioner Jaime Morente during the Senate inquiry, where he attested that Calima immediately informed him about the P18 million which Argosino and Robles delivered to Calima on Dec. 9, 2016 as the latter’s share in the P50 million extorted from Lam.

As for Argosino and Robles, the ombudsman maintained that their acts of giving P2 million to Sombero; keeping the remaining money with them from Nov. 27 to Dec. 8, 2016 instead of turning it over to proper authorities for safekeeping; and delivering P18 million to Calima 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.”

Sombero last year turned over to the ombudsman the P2 million he admitted deducting from the P50-million payout of Lam. Sombero admitted that he deducted P2 million from the amount to serve as processing fee for the release papers of the arrested Chinese nationals.