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Ombudsman indicts ex-BI execs tagged in P50-M bribery scandal for plunder
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales has ordered the filing of plunder charges against resigned Immigration deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles, and retired police officer Wally Sombero in connection with the P50-million bribery scandal at the bureau.
The three are also facing one count each of direct bribery and violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and two counts of violation of Presidential Decree No. 46, or the decree punishing public officials for receiving gifts from private individuals.
The Ombudsman said investigations have shown that Argosino and Robles received P50 million from Chinese casino mogul Jack Lam through the tycoon's middleman, Sombero, on November 27, 2016.
“Argosino and Robles, in connivance with Sombero, accumulated or acquired ill-gotten wealth in the amount of P50 million, through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts committed on a single day,” the Ombudsman said in its resolution dated October 23.
The P50 million was supposedly meant for the release of 1,316 illegal Chinese workers at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga owned by Lam.
The threshold amount for a person to be charged with plunder is P50 million.
The Ombudsman, nonetheless, said Argosino and Robles are still liable under the Plunder Law, or Republic Act No. 7080, despite the missing P1,000.
The anti-graft body further said it “cannot excuse them from being indicted for plunder” since Robles himself admitted that “they took possession of all five bags containing the P50 million.”
On the other hand, sacked Intelligence chief Charles Calima Jr. will face one count each of direct bribery and graft, while Lam will be charged with violation of PD 46 for giving the P50 million to the two BI officials.
The Ombudsman said Calima's criminal liability stemmed from his participation in the extort try when he received P18 million from Argosino and Robles to maintain his silence.
Morales also refused to belive the arguments of Argosino and Robles that they only took custody of the money for safekeeping as evidence in illegal gambling-related investigations.
“Their failure to immediately report to the proper investigating authority, or at the very least, their superiors, Sec. [Vitaliano] Aguirre and Commissioner (Jaime) Morente, that they had custody of the P50 million, contradicts their professed intentions,” Morales said.
She added that giving P2 million to Sombero, failure to turn the money over to proper authorities, and delivering P18 million to Calima as his share of the P50 million proves the BI officials treated the money as their own.
Morales signed the Ombudsman resolution on October 26.
