Sandiganbayan denies dismissal bid of ex-cop Sombero in P50-M bribery case

The Sandiganbayan has denied the bid of retired policeman Wally Sombero to dismiss his plunder case in connection with the P50-million bribery scandal at the Bureau of Immigration where he served as the alleged middleman of Chinese casino mogul Jack Lam.

In an 11-page resolution dated June 29, the Sixth Division said it resolves to deny the quashal motion of Sombero for “lack of merit.”

Sombero had argued that the plunder law requires a “series of overt criminal acts” which led to the alleged amassing of ill-gotten wealth of former BI deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles. This, he said, the prosecution failed to state in its charge sheet.

Sombero said there is only one criminal act in the case -- when he delivered P50 million, P20 million around 2 a.m. and P30 million at 5:45 a.m., to Argosino and Robles at the City of Dreams Manila in Paranaque City on November 27, 2016.

However, the Sandiganbayan the prosecution sufficiently stated that Sombero's delivery of the multi-million-peso “bribe” to Argosino and Robles on two separate instances already means a series of criminal of acts.

“The Amended Information in the present case alleges that accused Argosiro and Robles repeatedly received or collected a sum of money on two instances, in consideration for their intervention and assistance in the release of Chinese nationals arrested and detained at Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Pampanga,” the Sandiganbayan said.

“Applying the ruling in the aforecited case, each instance of receiving or collecting a sum of money constitutes a separate act. Hence, the amended information in the case at bar alleges the commission of acts in series,” it added.

Division chairperson Associate Justice Sarah Jane Fernandez penned the resolution, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Karl Miranda and Zaldy Trespeses.

The case stemmed when Argosino and Robles received P50 million from Sombero at the City of Dreams Casino in Parañaque City purportedly in exchange for the release 1,316 illegal Chinese workers found in Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga in November 2016.

Argosino, Robles, and Sombero have all pleaded not guilty for plunder, graft, direct bribery, and violation of Presidential Decree No. 46.

The three accused were initially scheduled for pre-trial proceedings on Friday but the Sandiganbayan deferred the setting to July 13, while the bail hearings for Argosino and Sombero will start on July 20. — RSJ, GMA News