Harry Roque’s cat-and-mouse game

I have been following both the Senate and House of Representatives hearings on the issue of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) operating as cyberfraud hubs in Bamban, Tarlac and Porac, Pampanga. I can’t help but be amused by what seems to be a cat-and-mouse game being played by former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque with the lawmakers, specifically regarding his role in the operations of Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Inc. in Porac.

While Atty. Harry Roque tries his darn best to extricate himself and disconnect from any involvement in the operations of Lucky South 99 by assertively playing down his role, the lawmakers appear to be close to trapping him into a corner.

Attorney Roque confidently maintains that he has no dealings whatsoever with Lucky South 99 but only with Whirlwind Corporation, which happens to be the lessor or landlord and a service provider for Lucky South.

However, based on testimonies and documentary evidence that have been presented, it is becoming very clear that the separate and distinct personalities of the two corporations were set up precisely to perpetrate a deception and hide criminal activities.

While a corporation may exist for any lawful purpose, the law will regard it as an association of persons or, in case of two corporations, merge them into one, when its corporate legal entity is used as a cloak for fraud and illegality. This is the doctrine of piercing the veil of corporate fiction.

Even if Attorney Roque does not specialize in corporate law, every law student knows this basic legal doctrine. It appears from the testimonies and the physical and documentary evidence that Whirlwind and Lucky South 99 are both under the control and dominion of an organized crime group represented by Cassandra Li Ong.

Ong’s group controls both companies’ finances, policies, and business practices, including the employment of dummies, representation in court and government agencies, the engagement of Atty. Harry Roque, and the improper provision of free board and lodging to Roque’s staffer and listed stockholder of Roque’s Biancham Corporation, Mr. AR de la Serna, in the heavily guarded POGO complex, among other things.

Curiously, Dennis Cunanan, who was reported by Cassandra Ong to have swindled Lucky South 99 of US$500,000 in PAGCOR fees and who was the government relations consultant of the Bamban POGO hub, is a neighbor of Harry Roque in White Plains, Quezon City.

It appears too that the veil of corporate fiction is the same modus operandi employed by Bamban Mayor Alice Guo’s group in the operations of Baofu Land Development, Hong Sheng Gaming Technology, and Zun Yuan Technology Inc. The testimony of Alice Guo’s accountant, Nancy Gamo, is one among many that proves this.

One of the purposes of this scheme was to protect the real estate, buildings, and other capital assets of the POGO operators from forfeiture in case their illegal activities were uncovered. This was the reason for the existence of Whirlwind Corporation in Porac and Baofu Land Development in Bamban, not to mention to insulate the principal players of these companies from criminal liabilities in the operations of the cyberfraud hubs.

Finding Roque’s statements to be duplicitous concerning his supposed role in Lucky South 99 and Whirlwind Corporation, the members of the Quad Committee in Congress grilled the former regarding his assets. This was especially after a fugitive from China, Sun Liming, was found hiding in a house owned by PH2 Corporation, which in turn is wholly owned by Bianchiam Holdings and Trading, Roque’s family corporation.

Sun Liming’s internet scam operation in China is massive with reported financial gains of more than $1 billion victimizing more than 180,000 Chinese citizens. Not bad for a guy described by Atty. Harry as a “man of leisure” and a “digital nomad.”

Fraud is a state of mind but it can be inferred in the circumstances surrounding the activities of Attorney Roque apparently as a facilitator for the Porac cyberfraud and scam hub, and that of his Biancham Holdings Corporation and its alter ego corporations.

Contrary to his appeal that his property and financial dealings were personal in nature, they are indeed fair game. After all, the mouse is caught where the cheese is.