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'Catch me if you can': Atong Ang now in Vietnam?

Philippines | National

'Catch me if you can': Atong Ang now in Vietnam?

By Aaron Recuenco

Authorities are verifying intelligence reports that gambling tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang has already left the country and is now hiding in Vietnam.

But Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla expressed doubt that Ang would be able to establish gambling business in Vietnam to widen his network.

“It’s difficult because it’s a communist government. They are very strict in law and order so I don't think he would be able to apply for his business there,” said Remulla.

“But we are verifying the raw information through our backchannels to confirm if he is really there. This information is about a month ago and we are verifying it,” he added.

Ang is wanted for cases relating to the disappearance of cockfighting aficionados, or the missing sabungeros. The cases include kidnapping with serious illegal detention and kidnapping with homicide— both are non-bailable offense.

Ang went into hiding after a court issued an arrest warrant against him.

If indeed Ang was able to sneak out of the country, Remulla suspected that it could be the southern backdoor, or through Mindanao.

Ang was earlier reported to have been hiding in Cambodia and there were suspicions that he was forced to move to Vietnam due to the ongoing crackdown on illegal gambling and online modus scams.

“I don’t know if he has connections there. It just came to my attention that he was there (in Vietnam),” said Remulla.

“In the underworld, they don't leave any fingerprints behind. So, these are intelligence reports that we are validating and we continue to validate,” he added.

Aside from Ang, authorities are also having difficulties in getting former Ako Bicol partlyist representative Zaldy Co who is facing serious cases relating to multi-billion flood control scandal.

Related Tags

Atong Ang Missing sabungeros DILG Vietnam

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