De Lima seeks probe into Jack Lam, BI bribery

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By Prince Golez, Manila Reporter
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Friday January 13, 2017
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MANILA – Sen. Leila de Lima is calling for a “deeper independent” investigation into the alleged P50-million extortion attempt on gambling tycoon Jack Lam.
The so-called bribery incident involving immigration officials was supposedly in exchange for the release of Lam’s over 1,300 illegal workers in Pampanga.
De Lima’s Senate Resolution No. 258 would also look into the Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre’s admission that Lam also offered him a monthly payola of P100 million for protecting his gambling interests.
“If indeed Lam, through his middleman Wally Sombero, attempted to bribe Aguirre, why didn’t the latter effect right then and there, a warrantless arrest of Sombero, the latter being in flagrante delicto, and thereafter promptly move to prevent Lam’s departure or escape from the country?” the lady senator pointed out.
She said a Senate probe was necessary because entrusting the investigation to Aguirre-led Department of Justice and National Bureau of Investigations “is like entrusting a wolf to guard the sheep.”
De Lima also questioned the government’s failure to pursue immediate prosecution of Lam and his cohorts and slammed the secretary’s “lukewarm” action on the gaming operator’s criminal offense.
In filing her resolution, de Lima also called for the “revision” and “update” of the country’s anti-corruption laws, specifically on cases of favouritism.
The two Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials – commissioners Michael Robles and Al Argosino – accused of extorting millions of pesos from Lam and Aguirre were fraternity brothers of President Rodrigo Duterte at San Beda College of Law.
“This is the first time that a corruption scandal involving the President’s fraternity brothers has been exposed to the public. Duterte has promised that all officials who get involved in corruption will be killed,” de Lima said./PN

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