Senate looks into alleged P50-M Jack Lam bribery case

Jack Lam. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Senate blue ribbon committee opened on Monday its investigation into the reported P50 million bribery scandal at the Bureau of Investigation (BI).

Among those invited to the hearing of the committee chaired by Senator Richard Gordon were former BI Associate Commissioners Michael Robles and Al Argosino, and former immigration intelligence chief Charles Calima Jr.

Robles and Argosino have admitted accepting P50 million from gambling tycoon Jack Lam but said they would use it as “future evidence of corruption of public officials.”

They said P18 million of the amount went to Calima while P2 million went to retired police general Wally Sombero. Argosino and Robles turned over the remaining P30 million to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II after the scandal broke out.

READ: 2 BI execs admit receiving P48M from Jack Lam

Aguirre, who  claimed that Lam offered him a P100-million monthly payola in exchange for his protection, was also invited to the hearing, along with the chair and chief executive officer of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), Andrea Domingo.

The Justice Secretary also alleged that Lam  tried to bribe the Pagcor chief.

READ: Aguirre: Gambling lord also tried to bribe Pagcor chair

Lam is accused of bribing BI officials after authorities raided his online gaming operations at the Fontana Leisure Park at the Clark Freeport and arrested 1,316 of his Chinese employees. The employees were allegedly working illegally in the country. CBB/rga