GGRAsia – Pagcor chair, ex-chair, others face charges in E-sabong case

Pagcor chair, ex-chair, others face charges in E-sabong case

Sep 06, 2023 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

The Office of the Ombudsman in the Philippines has had submitted to it some charges against the chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor) and nine other individuals, concerning allegedly-illegal release and disappearance of funds totalling PHP75 million (US$1.3 million). The matter relates to a performance bond posted by a company granted a licence for cockfighting contests presented online, and known locally as “E-sabong” betting business.

Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco, his chief of staff Dianne Erica Jogno, former Pagcor boss Andrea Domingo, and several former Pagcor board members are among those accused in a case that involves charges of misusing public funds, qualified theft, and falsifying private and commercial documents, according to reports by several media outlets in the Philippines.

Pagcor – the gaming regulator in the Philippines – had not issued any comment on the matter at the time this story went online.

The case was brought by Joaquin Sy, the chief financial officer and board chairman of Kamura Highlands Gaming and Holdings Inc, reported the Philippines Star. He filed the lawsuit over the allegedly improper issuance and release by Pagcor of a cheque worth PHP75 million in total.

The funds were originally used as payment to Pagcor of a cash performance bond related to the issuance of an E-sabong licence last year on behalf of Kamura Highlands Gaming.

Following a decision in May 2022 by then Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, to stop E-sabong operations at national level, Mr Sy alleges he wrote to then-Pagcor chair Ms Domingo seeking the withdrawal of the bond, but he says he did not receive a response from the regulator.

He reportedly followed up his request several times up to July this year, still unsuccessfully. Mr Sy says he eventually received verbal confirmation from Pagcor’s assistant vice president for finance Lolita Gonzales that a cheque worth PHP75 million had been issued in September last year in favour of a person called Jewel Castro.

According to the media reports, Ms Castro’s mother was at the time president of Kamura Highlands Gaming.

Mr Sy alleges he was the one holding the original copy of the receipts regarding the performance bond. “Government accounting procedures strictly require that the original copy of the receipts must be surrendered before the withdrawal of the bond is allowed,” he said in a statement quoted by media in the Philippines.

Current Pagcor chairman Mr Tengco – appointed to the job in August last year – is also charged with a complaint of obstruction of justice for his alleged “deliberate concealment of the crimes and unjustified refusal to respond to the letters of the complainant within the period prescribed” by law, states Mr Sy’s submission, as reported by the Philippines Star.