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Who is Kim Wong?

Who is Kim Wong?

Gigi Grande,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated May 20, 2016 10:33 PM PHT

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A screen shot of Kim Wong (Kam Sin Wong) who faced the Senate 15 years ago

A Chinese businessman could provide the key to uncovering the $81-million money laundering scam being investigated by the Senate Blue Ribbon committee.

Kam Sin Wong, also known as Kim Wong, left the country for “medical treatment” on March 4 and has been unable to attend the hearings, according to a letter sent to the Senate by his lawyer Victor Fernandez.

But Fernandez said Wong is “prepared to cooperate” once his medical treatment is completed.

If and when Wong does turn up, it wouldn’t be the first time one Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong has faced a Senate investigation.

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HONG KONG TRIAD?

Fifteen years ago, on August 23, 2001, a 39-year-old Chinese man--also named Kam Sin Wong, alias Kim Wong--faced the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

Wong sat in the same room just a few steps away from three other men who had accused him of involvement in illegal drugs and other criminal activities.

The three were Col. Victor Corpus, then chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP); former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim; and one Ador Mawanay, an alleged agent of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force.

According to the Senate transcripts of the hearing, Corpus had suspected Sen. Panfilo Lacson of links to the illegal drug trade and that it was Wong who was the senator’s conduit to the drug mafia.

Both Lacson and Wong denied the allegations.

Wong told the Senate hearing that he had no clue as to why the ISAFP was accusing him of such crimes. “Ako ay isang negosyante lang na maliit,” Wong said.

But as the hearing unfolded, it became clear Wong was anything but a small-time businessman.

THE COMPANY HE KEEPS

Wong came to the Philippines at age 10. While in college, he dropped out of school and took a job as an agent of the La Campana Fabrica de Tabacos.

It was not clear how he became a self-styled businessman moving around with some police generals and politicians.

Details were scant, but by the time he faced his accusers at the Senate 15 years ago, Wong had long found himself well entrenched in the corridors of influence.

Under oath, Wong narrated his friendship not only with Lacson, a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, but also with Director General Leandro Mendoza, then PNP chief; then Western Police District Chief Avelino Razon; and Chief Supt. Francisco Zubia.

CAMPAIGN DONOR

Wong also claimed association with former Sen. Ernesto Herrera, who once led an anti-drug campaign, and the then Manila Mayor Lito Atienza.

He categorically admitted to being a campaign contributor of Atienza as well as his accuser, Lim, who ran for president in 1998.

When pressed by Sen. Nene Pimentel that it was illegal for foreigners like Wong to contribute to a candidate's campaign, Wong said it was his wife who made the contributions.

LIVING IT UP

It was clear the one-time tobacco agent had come a long way.

By 2001, Wong owned a garments business and three restaurants in Manila as well as golf and tennis club memberships.

It would appear business was going very well because he and three Chinese friends were in a position to gift the Western Police District with a building which was constructed within the police headquarters' premises.

UNSCATHED

By the time the Senate wrapped up its 2001 investigation, Wong was left unscathed, while his principal accuser, Corpus, was admonished for his "blunder."

Corpus had presented the picture of the wrong Wong to the media at the onset of the probe. Mawanay too was deemed an "unreliable" witness, according to the committee report.

Allegations against Lacson were merely passed on to the Department of Justice for further investigation in 2001.

SWINDLING, ESTAFA, ILLEGAL DISMISSAL

NBI records in 2001 showed one Kam Sin Wong had been charged for swindling and estafa.

And then, in 2009, a case of illegal dismissal was filed by one John Aguyaoy before the National Labor Relations Commission against the Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. and Kim Wong.

The case reached the Court of Appeals, with the Eastern Hawaii Leisure Corporation saying Wong was “neither an employee (nor) director or stock holder of the company” and Aguyaoy saying “Wong is the real owner …and the police, the public, his employees …were all made to believe that he is the owner because he was in control of all the activities” of the company.

But aside from these cases, not much was heard about Wong, until the name of one Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong surfaced again last week.

SPURIOUS DEPOSITORS?

By now, most people have heard of how $81 million was electronically stolen from the Bangladesh Bank’s account at the US Federal Reserve and how it entered the Philippine banking system in February 2016 through dollar accounts opened by Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Enrico Teodoro Vasquez, Michael Fransisco Cruz and Alfred Santos Vergara at the RCBC Jupiter Street branch.

And if what RCBC branch manager Maia Deguito told ABS-CBN News were to be believed, it was one Kim Wong who introduced her to Lagrosas, Vasquez, Cruz, and Vergara.

Funds from the four were then consolidated to the dollar account of businessman William Go.

Deguito said it was also Wong who instructed her to open a dollar account under the name of Go.

When the Senate Blue Ribbon committee opened the investigation on March 15, it said it could not locate Lagrosas, Vasquez, Cruz and Vergara at their given addresses.

ABS-CBN News tried to contact the lawyer representing Kam Sin Wong alias Kim Wong at the Senate hearing, but attempts have been unsuccessful so far.

'JUNKET OPERATOR'

Lacson, who is running for senator in the May 2016 elections, has made no secret about his friendship with the Kim Wong who appeared at the Senate hearing 15 years ago.

“Si Wong sa pagkaka-alam ko is a [casino] junket operator,” Lacson told ABS-CBN News.

“Matagal ko ng kakilala si Kim Wong pero definitely wala akong kinalaman kung ano man ang pumasok na pera, dapat talaga imbestigahan yun,” he said.

Appearing at the opening of the Senate inquiry last Tuesday, Philrem president Salud Bautista said $21 million of the stolen $81 million was remitted to Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co. which, according to Sen. Serge Osmena, was “the company of the missing fellow today, Kim Wong."

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More guns than people: Why tighter US firearms laws are unlikely

More guns than people: Why tighter US firearms laws are unlikely

Andy Sullivan,

Reuters

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Josie Elowsky (C) cries and hugs her friend, Nirbisha Shetsha, at the site of a mass shooting at King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, Colorado, US on March 23, 2021. Alyson McClaran, Reuters/file


WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden announced limited measures to tackle gun violence last week, but more ambitious steps will be harder to enact despite widespread public support.

Here are some facts about gun violence in the United States:

HOW MANY AMERICANS OWN GUNS?

With about 121 firearms in circulation for every 100 residents, the United States is by far the most heavily armed society in the world, according to the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, a research group.

However, gun ownership is becoming less common across the country. One in three US households owned firearms in 2016, down from nearly half in 1990, according to the RAND Corp think tank. Ownership varies significantly by state: 66% of Montana households owned firearms, compared with just 8% in New Jersey.

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WHAT SORT OF LAWS GOVERN FIREARMS?

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution enshrines the "right to bear arms," which the Supreme Court has interpreted to allow individuals to keep handguns at home for self-defense. The conservative-leaning court may soon decide whether gun owners can carry guns outside the home.

The federal government requires most gun buyers to clear a criminal background check and tightly regulates ownership of machine guns, which are fully automatic, and silencers.

Most other gun laws are set at the state level, where policies vary widely.

Many Democratic-dominated states have tightened their laws in recent years.

California, for example, has banned military-style semi-automatic "assault weapons" and large-capacity magazines and has the most robust "red flag" system, which allows authorities to take firearms away from people determined to be dangerous.

The state also prohibits people from carrying loaded firearms in public -- a practice known as "open carry" -- and gun owners must get a permit before carrying a concealed loaded weapon.

Gun laws are much more permissive in rural states, including Idaho, Kentucky and Wyoming.

Mississippi has the most permissive US laws, according to the Giffords Law Center, a gun-control group. Residents of that state do not need a permit to carry loaded weapons, whether openly or concealed, and sales of "assault weapons" and large-capacity magazines are legal. Buyers do not face waiting periods and the state does not have a red-flag law.

Mississippi and 28 other states also have enacted "Stand Your Ground" laws that allow people to use deadly force when they feel threatened.

WHAT IMPACT DOES THIS HAVE?

Americans aren't necessarily more violent than other cultures - but their disputes are more likely to turn deadly, expert say.

University of Iowa criminology professor Mark Berg found the rates of assault in the United States are similar to other countries, but homicide rates are higher due to the prevalence of guns.

Firearms were a factor in 39,740 US deaths in 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), similar to the number caused by motor-vehicle accidents. Suicides account for six out of 10 gun deaths.

WILL GUN LAWS CHANGE?

Gun rights are one of the most divisive issues in American politics. Supporters see firearms as an important tool for self-defense, target shooting and hunting, as well as a powerful symbol of individual rights. Critics say America's permissive approach leads to tens of thousands of deaths each year.

High-profile mass shootings have increased public pressure to tighten regulations. Most Americans support tougher gun laws, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling, but Washington has done little to address the problem in recent years.

One reason: Small, rural states where gun ownership is widespread have disproportionate influence in the US Senate, where a supermajority of 60 votes is needed to advance most legislation in the 100-seat chamber.

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives passed legislation expanding background checks last month, but it faces long odds in the Senate, which is split 50-50 between the two parties.

With Congress deadlocked, presidents have acted on their own.

After a 2018 mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people, then-President Donald Trump banned "bump stocks" that allow semi-automatic rifles to fire at a rate similar to automatic ones.

But Trump, a Republican, also made it easier for people with mental illness to buy guns.

Biden, a Democrat, aims to tighten regulations on self-assembled "ghost guns" that currently can be sold without serial numbers or background checks and to make it easier for states to adopt red-flag laws.

CHANGING POLITICS?

The political landscape may be changing. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been one of the most influential gun rights lobbying groups in Washington for decades, but has been hobbled in recent years by infighting. The group recently filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to stave off a legal challenge in New York.

The NRA gave $30 million to candidates in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections, down from $55 million in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups like Moms Demand Action that back stronger restrictions have stepped up lobbying expenses over the past decade, though they still trail gun-rights groups as a whole.

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