A woman from Escalante City leased the room used by persons who were engaged in fake Small Town Lottery operations in Binalbagan, Negros Occidental, the owner of the house told National Bureau of Investigation officials on Monday, August 15.
Abner Cañal, owner of the Binalbagan house located at Barangay Santo Rosario, said the room was rented by a certain Liezel of Escalante City.
Persons he identified only as Cookie, Nonoy and Val, occupied the room and each paid P100 a day.
However, he asked them to leave when he noticed that their bet stubs did not have the name of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and they could not produce proof that they were legitimate STL operators, Cañal said.
They had stayed in the rented room for four days before he made them leave on August 9.
The NBI was set to conduct a raid on August 10 but when they arrived the illegal STL operators were no longer in the Binalbagan house, NBI Bacolod chief Renoir Baldovino said.
Cañal assured the NBI of his full cooperation in their investigation.
The owner of the house in Sipalay City where illegal STL operations were conducted also went to the NBI Bacolod office to air his side.
When the NBI arrived at the house in Sipalay where the illegal betting was conducted, the persons involved were also no longer there, Baldovino said.
Baldovino said only Super Lucky Beagler Inc. has a permit from PCSO to operate STL in Negros Occidental.
The NBI will also file charges against the owners of the houses where illegal STL operations were conducted, he said.
But if they cooperate and help identify the financiers or capitalists of the illegal STL operations their liability will be less, Baldovino said.
The NBI already has an idea who the persons behind the illegal STL operations are but needs to establish strong evidence against them, Baldovino said.
There is a group of persons involved in illegal STL operations in Negros Occidental, he added.
The financier of the illegal STL operations in Bacolod City may be different from those operating in other areas in Negros Occidental, Baldovino said.*