Philippines' Duterte tells Macau casino boss to apologise, pay correct taxes

Smart Digital Technology

08/12/2016 12:01

MANILA, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo 
Duterte said on Thursday he would allow Jack Lam, one of Asia's 
top casino kingpins, to do business in the country after he had 
ordered his arrest on charges of economic sabotage and bribery. 
    Duterte said he would allow the casino boss to come back to 
the Philippines if he apologised for bribing an official and 
paid the correct taxes.  
    Lam, from the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, has been 
operating online gambling at a former U.S. air force base 
without a license, the justice department said. 
    "On the condition that he lets go of original contract ... 
Just pay taxes, don't bribe anybody," Duterte told reporters 
after saying Lam had sent surrender feelers to the authorities. 
    There was no immediate comment from Lam, according to his 
lawyer, Raymond Fortun, and his whereabouts were not known. 
Philippine police say he is not in the country. 
    Last month, Philippine immigration authorities detained 
about 1,200 Chinese men working without permits in call 
centre-like facilities for running suspected online gambling 
operations out of the former U.S. air base, Clark Field. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1DT2TI 
    Philippine police chief Ronald Dela Rosa said on Saturday an 
associate of Lam tried to secure their release. He said Duterte 
had ordered the arrest of Lam. 
    Philippine authorities said they had shut down two 
properties owned by Lam, who is a Chinese citizen and head of 
Hong Kong-listed Jimei International  1159.HK  
    Lam, who used to bring high rollers to Macau's top casinos 
including Sands China  1928.HK  and Wynn Macau  1128.HK , has 
faded from prominence over the past few years as a Chinese 
crackdown on corruption has crippled so-called junket 
operations. 
    At the same time, Lam's operations in the Philippines have 
grown, including a rise in Chinese nationals gambling online at 
his gaming site. 
 
 (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Robert Birsel) 
 ((karen.lema@thomsonreuters.com; +632 841-8938; Reuters 
Messaging:  karen.lema.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: PHILIPPINES MACAU/