PAGCOR Chairman Finds Odd Suit Filed On e-Sabong Bond

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco has vowed to get to the bottom of a supposed disappearance of a P75 million e-sabong bond that was the subject of a suit filed before the Ombudsman, even though he found it odd that he was sued when the matter happened before he even assumed office.

Tengco, also PAGCOR Chief Executive Officer, said he has already ordered an audit of the money trail and promised to get to the bottom of the case regarding the alleged disappearance of a P75 million performance bond posted by an e-sabong company. I Photo: Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation X

Tengco, also PAGCOR Chief Executive Officer, said he has already ordered an audit of the money trail and promised to get to the bottom of the case regarding the alleged disappearance of a P75 million performance bond posted by an e-sabong company, even though it occurred during the previous administration.

“While we find it strange that we are included in the alleged charges, we nevertheless will pursue our investigation and determine what really happened, and bring the perpetrators to justice if indeed there was any anomaly,” Mr. Tengco said.

The PAGCOR chief was reacting to reports that a certain Joaquin Sy, who claims to be the chairman and chief finance officer of Kamura Highlands Gaming and Holdings, Inc., filed charges of malversation of public funds, qualified theft, and falsification of private and commercial documents before the Ombudsman.

Aside from Mr. Tengco, named respondents were former PAGCOR chief Andrea Domingo and former board members Gabriel Claudio, Carmen Pedrosa, Reynaldo Concordia, and James Patrick Bondoc, and current PAGCOR officer Dianne Erica Jogno. Not included in the complaint was former PAGCOR President and COO Fred Lim.

Two of the former board members, Pedrosa and Concordia, already passed away when the alleged disappearance of the Php75 million took place sometime in July 2022, while Mr. Tengco assumed office only in August of the same year.

Mr. Tengco also said that while the agency has not received any formal complaint from the Ombudsman, they are already looking into the matter.

“We have launched an internal investigation and we are trying to recreate the sequence of events since the department allegedly involved, the E-Sabong Licensing Department, has already been disbanded,” he said.

“Former President Duterte outlawed e-sabong in May 2022, and the people in the E-Sabong Licensing Department have since been reassigned to other units, so now we are trying to retrace the supposed anomalous transaction,” the PAGCOR chief said.

“While this happened before we came to PAGCOR, the public can rest assured that we will get to the bottom of this and that we will respond to the accusations against us in the proper venue once we receive a copy of the alleged charges from the Ombudsman,” he added.

Earlier, Tengco terminated the consultancy contract of Global ComRCI, which was mandated as the third-party auditor of the gaming agency for its licensed offshore gaming operations, and is now pursuing the recovery of the P800 million that had been released to the audit company.

Revelations in the past Senate hearings on the said third-party auditor showed that Global ComRCI presented a bogus certification from a global bank for which it was able to secure the consultancy contract worth P6 billion from the previous management.

The PAGCOR head noted that no less than Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla certified that the purported bank certification, on which hinged the third-party auditing contract of Global ComRCI, was fraudulent.

Medalla wrote the Senate, confirming that the global bank was in no position to issue any certification on behalf of any local entity, as it had no operations nor branch office in the Philippines.

Thus, the certification given by Global ComRCI is, on its face, fraudulent, according to a PAGCOR statement.

PAGCOR has now endorsed the matter to the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) "for the possible filing of administrative, civil, and criminal cases against Global ComRCI and is now exploring the legal remedies available for the restitution of more than P800 million out of the partial amount released to Global ComRCI prior to the assumption of the current administration, as well as damages it has caused to the Corporation."

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem