The director of the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Mr. Paulo Martins Chan, has met with founder of local junket operator Jimei, Jack Lam, to find out more information regarding the group’s legal issues in the Philippines, as reported by Portuguese-language broadcaster TDM.
“We met with this man [Lam] and we are still gathering some information from the authorities in the Philippines to know more about the facts involved,” Chan told the broadcaster.
“We only know the information from what we see in the media, which isn’t always correct, therefore we want to have more formal, more accurate, information provided by the Philippine authorities,” Lam told the broadcaster.
Lam’s arrest was ordered by the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, after a raid on his Fontana casino resort property resulted in the arrest of over 1,300 Chinese nationals. The junket owner is alleged to have conducted illegal online gaming operations from the facility, without paying tax, as well as being investigated for economic sabotage and bribery for allegedly offering bribes to secure the freedom of some of the imprisoned nationals apprehended in the raid.
President Duterte commented that he could conditionally allow Lam back into the country provided he pays back taxes and promises to not attempt bribery in the future, local media reported.
