THE Office of the Ombudsman has found basis to charge with plunder, graft and direct bribery three former Immigration officials and two others before the Sandiganbayan involving the release of more than 1,000 illegal Chinese workers in an online casino in Pampanga. AdvertisementsThey are former Associate Commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, former Immigration Acting Intelligence Chief Charles Calima Jr., along with Wenceslao Sombero Jr., president of the Asian Gaming Service Providers Association, Inc. (AGSPA), and businessman Jack Lam, the Ombudsman said in a statement on Friday. The Ombudsman said that based on its investigation, Argosino and Robles allegedly received P50 million in 2016 from Lam in a deal allegedly facilitated by Sombero. Over 1,000 Chinese nationals were arrested by authorities in Clark, Pampanga for supposedly working without permit in an online casino supposedly operated by Lam. REINA LEANNE C. TOLENTINO

Source: Manila Times October 27, 2017 10:07 UTC