Philippines police cannot pursue Jack Lam internationally without a warrant

The Philippines police chief, General Ronald Dela Rosa has responded to media queries on whether his men will pursue Macau-based casino mogul Jack Lam following his departure from the Philippines last week after being accused of bribery and harbouring illegal Chinese workers (see previous  reports).

Dela Rosa told local reporters Monday that without an arrest warrant the Philippines national police is unable to work with its counterparts in Hong Kong and Macau to extradite Lam.

And for now at least it appears that there is no plan to obtain such a warrant: the General continued:

“We will wait for him to return here… we will wait for him. We cannot coordinate [with] Hong Kong, Macau or Chinese enforcement agencies because until now there is no warrant of arrest.”

In related news, Lam’s Philippines gambling empire took another hit Monday when his Fort Ilocandia Resort (FIR) in Laoag City was “temporarily” shuttered by the police and regulator Pagcor on the directions of President Duterte.

The closure follows similar sanctions taken against Lam’s Fontana Leisure Park in the Clark Field Freeport last week.

Jayson Perrera, legal counsel of FIR, maintained in a statement that Lam has not violated any law, and said he was confident that the operations of the Fort Ilocandia casino will resume as soon as possible.

The government’s statement advised:

“Upon instruction of the President, joint authorities of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) in cooperation with the Regional Investigation and Detection Group and the Ilocos Norte Police Provincial Office led by Police Senior Superintendent Jose Melencio Nartatez served the [FIR] closure order on late Monday afternoon.”

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