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Ex-BI man hit for meeting Jack Lam aide, accepting money bags

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Trishia Billones, ABS-CBN News

ARE YOU DENSE? A former immigration deputy commissioner received a tongue-lashing from a senator Monday for meeting with gaming tycoon Jack Lam&#x27;s alleged representative where he was handed an alleged P50 million bribe.Speaking at the Senate probe into the bribery scandal in the Bureau of Immigration, Senator Richard Gordon slammed former deputy commissioner Al Argosino, who had recounted before the Senate committee his meeting with Wally Sombero, a former cop and alleged representative of gambling tycoon Jack Lam.&quot;Nag-iinvestigate ka at yung kausap mo, nandun ka, inofferan ang Secretary of Justice na maging ninong tapos biglang dumating ka dun on your own volition, ‘mag-usap tayo,’ ‘kailangan ng ninong’—sumakay ka dun,&quot; said Gordon.&quot;Pumunta ka dun sa hotel. Nung andun ka sa hotel, nag-aabang, dumating ng dalawang bags, sige ka lang sa kwento, tapos ‘by the way, para saan ba yang bag na &#x27;yan?’ You’re a lawyer,&quot; he added.Argosino, a former BI deputy commissioner who was fired because of the bribery scam, said he met with Sombero on November 26 just hours after his superior, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, rejected an alleged bribe offer from Lam. The alleged bribe offer happened at the Shangri-La at the Fort. <ul class="op-related-articles" title="Read">	<li>READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/01/16/aguirre-gambling-tycoon-tried-to-bribe-me">Aguirre: Gambling tycoon tried to bribe me</a></li></ul>An hour after Aguirre&#x27;s meeting, he received a text message from Sombero asking to meet him at the City of Dreams.He said he also texted another deputy commissioner, Atty. Michael Robles, to also attend the meeting.He recalled that they met in the City of Dreams around 9 to 10 PM and stayed at Erwin&#x27;s Gastrobar until Sombero arrived at 10:45 PM.“If I remember right, dumating muna si Wally wala pa ho siyang dalang bag,” said Argosino.However, he said Sombero left for a while and came back around 11:30 or 11:45 PM, carrying two shopping bags this time. He maintained that he did not immediately ask what the bags were for, but eventually did so in the course of their conversation.&quot;Sa akin po kasi, di ako interesado sa kung anong laman nung [bag] niya, kasi ang sa akin, dito nag-iinvestigate ako,&quot; he said.<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2017/news/01/23/somberobags-012317.jpg"/></figure></div><ul class="op-related-articles" title="Read">	<li>READ: <a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/12/13/16/two-duterte-frat-brods-figure-in-corruption-scandal">Two Duterte frat brods figure in corruption scandal</a></li></ul><div>MONEY BAGS</div>When the restaurant they were in closed after midnight, Argosino said they moved to another restaurant, with Sombero still bringing with him the two bags of money.This irked Gordon who said Argosino should be ashamed for dealing with someone who allegedly brought in illegal foreign workers.&quot;Hindi ba nakakahiya na opisyal kayo ng Immigration, may kasama kayo na nagdadala ng Chinese na illegal, maglalakad kayo na may dalawang bag na kasama?&quot; said the senator.Argosino, however, said it was Sombero who brought the bags of money.&quot;Sinusunod niya po sa amin yung bag, your honor. We never touched the bags during those instances.&quot;http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/nation/12/16/50-m-121616.jpgIn that restaurant, which Argosino failed to name, he said Sombero would often leave them with the bags, and once even left them for two hours past 5 AM.&quot;Nagpapaalam na po kami [na aalis na], pero nasa amin po yung dalawang bag. Yung pinakamatagal po na pag-alis niya, pagbalik niya, may dala na hong tatlo bags, kasama niya yung assistants,&quot; he said.&quot;Nire-refuse namin, your honor. Sabi namin, kung anuman yan, di na namin kailangan,&quot; he added.Argosino admitted that as early as 10:30 PM or 11 PM, Sombero had already told them &quot;meron dito&quot; (there&#x27;s something there) inside the bags.He claimed they already thought there was money in the bags but paid no attention to the bags. This provoked Gordon further, who asked why the two officials did not even ask why Sombero was leaving bags of money. &quot;Hindi ba nakakapagtaka? You’re a lawyer, you’re a commissioner of Immigration. You just went with your Secretary of Justice and he made the same offer practically—na kailangan ng ninong. Sinabi sa’yo, kailangan ng ninong. Are you dense?&quot; he said.Argosino said he did not ask what the money was for--though he did ask where it was from, and Sombero told him that it came from casino operators.&quot;Di ko tinanong kasi, your honor, ang tinatanong ko is anong purpose ni Wally, bakit ganito ang sistema? Yun po ang nasa isip ko, your honor,&quot; he said.Even Senator Francis Pangilinan expressed disbelief why Argosino and Robles waited for Sombero when the latter left them for two hours.“Bakit kayo naghintay ng dalawang oras? Anong hinihintay ninyo? Hindi kayo umalis? Bakit kayo naghihintay ng dalawang oras. Wala sya. Bakit di kayo umalis?” he asked.“Mahirap paniwalaan na dalawang oras na siyang umalis, naghihintay kayo ng dalawang oras, nagkakamot kayo ng kung anu-ano, nagbibilang kayo ng butiki sa ano, tapos hinihintay niyo siyang bumalik ng madaling araw?” he added.Argosino argued, however, that he stayed because he had long been investigating Lam.Gordon once again asked if Argosino knows how much was in those bags. The former BI official at first claimed that he only had an idea that there was money inside the bags. After Gordon repeated the question, this time raising his voice, Argosino admitted that Sombero had told them there was P20-million in those bags.&quot;I had the idea, but I never touched the bags because ang tinitingnan ko po talaga dito, your honor, is nandoon din po si Jack Lam. Yun po ang hinihintay ko na opportunity,&quot; he said.

ARE YOU DENSE? A former immigration deputy commissioner received a tongue-lashing from a senator Monday for accepting bags of money from a representative of gaming tycoon Jack Lam allegedly because he wanted to "pin" Lam.

ARE YOU DENSE? A former immigration deputy commissioner received a tongue-lashing from a senator Monday for accepting bags of money from a representative of gaming tycoon Jack Lam allegedly because he wanted to "pin" Lam.

Ex-BI man hit for meeting Jack Lam aide, accepting money bags

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Ex-BI man hit for meeting Jack Lam aide, accepting money bags

Trishia Billones,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 23, 2017 08:01 PM PHT

Read More:

ANC

Wally Sombero

Senate

Al Argosino

Richard Gordon

BI

Immigration

bribery

senate hearing

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