Kenneth Dong had his mugshots and booking at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office during his arrest after attending a Senate hearing yesterday. Dong was arrested and charged with the crime of rape.
INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
It’s a triple whammy for Chinese businessman Kenneth Dong as he faces charges of imporation of illegal drugs, rape, and unauthorized practice of Customs Brokers profession.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed drug charges against Dong (Dong Yi Shen), and eight others in connection with the P6.4-billion drug shipment last May.
He is facing a complaint for violation of Section 4 (Importation of Dangerous Drugs and/or Controlled Precursors and Essential Chemicals) of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
Shortly after he attended the four-hour blue ribbon committee hearing on Tuesday, Dong was also arrested for a rape charge.
Members of the Senate’s Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) held Dong and escorted him out of the session hall. OSAA personnel then turned Dong over to the NBI agents.
In an ambush interview, NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said the arrest of Dong was based on a warrant for a charge of rape issued by a Parañaque City court.
Dong was also charged with unauthorized practice of Customs Brokers profession.
The Police Regional Office in Central Visayas is conducting a background investigation on Dong after he was impleaded in the illegal drugs trade.
Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing has also ordered an investigation to the business operation of LIV Super Club where Dong serves as director.
Other Respondents
Aside from Dong, also impleaded in the charge for importation of dangerous drugs were Taiwanese nationals Chen I. Min and Jhu Ming Jyun; Chinese nationals Chen Ju Long (or Richard Tan/Richard Chen) and Li Guang Feng; and Filipino nationals Fidel Anoche Dee, Customs broker Mark Ruben G. Taguba II, Teejay A. Marcellana and Eirene May A. Tatad.
“Subjects, through their indispensable cooperation, caused the importation of five wooden crates from China,” the letter complaint stated.
The NBI said the crates, which were recovered inside the warehouse of Hongfei Logistics Group of Companies in Valenzuela, contained 605 transparent plastic bags of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.
On the other hand, Li, Dong and Taguba are facing a separate complaint for Unauthorized Practice of Customs Brokers Profession under Section 28 of Republic Act 9280 or the Customs Brokers Act of 2004.
Based on the investigation of the NBI, Dong, Li, and Taguba are not registered Customs brokers.
Hongfei is an international freight forwarder who receives shipments at its warehouse in China and books the shipments to the Philippines. It was registered with the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Client Profile Registration System but its registration expired on July 12, 2014.
However, the NBI, in its investigation, said Hongfei continued to operate and transact with the BOC.
Hongfei, the NBI said, had tapped the services of Li to handle the release of goods from the BOC. Li, on the other hand, asked Dong to find a Customs broker to handle the importation of his client.
Dong then found Taguba who agreed to act as a broker for the importation of Li’s clients for the price of P190,000.
Dong, in turn, would charge P5,000 to P10,000 on top of the P190,000.
Shipment
On May 17, 2017, Marcellana lodged the details of the shipment in the BOC and entered EMT Trading as the importer or consignee for the shipment.
Taguba availed of the services of Marcellana for the processing of the shipments of EMT Trading from China.
Tatad, according to the complaint, allowed Taguba to use the business name of EMT as importer.
The shipment was assigned a “green lane” tag by the Selectivity System of the BOC, thus, no physical inspection and further documentary examination was required pursuant to Customs Memorandum Order 28-2003.
On May 23, 2017, the shipment was released from the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and was delivered to the Hongfei warehouse.
The respondents, except for Marcellana and Tatad, were the subject of an immigration look-out bulletin order (ILBO) issued by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II early this month.
Aguirre said the issuance of an ILBO is a prudent thing to do to “at least monitor the itineraries of the flight, travel and or whereabouts of the said person considering the gravity of the offenses possibly committed.”
The shipment of the P6.4-billion worth of shabu has opened a can of worms from the Bureau of Customs (BOC) after Taguba revealed allegations of corruption from the agency. The agency is now the subject of a Congressional inquiry.
‘Propaganda‘
Meanwhile, Malacañang dismissed as mere “propaganda” the photos showing Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte with Dong.
Netizens were recently abuzz over online photos of the presidential son with Dong.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Paolo was a victim of “trial by publicity,” adding that accusers of the presidential son should file cases in court and show evidence to prove their allegations.
“Kung talagang serious ang allegations, then they should raise up the issue in the proper venue. Hindi lang yung paikot-ikot kasi siyempre at the end of the day, what does it become? It becomes trial by publicity,” Abella said in an ambush interview with reporters in Malacañang.
Taguba earlier dropped several names of people in the government who were receiving bribes from smugglers.
One of the names that cropped up was that of Duterte’s son, Paolo, who immediately denied the accusations.
During the congressional hearing, the broker said it was only a rumor. The younger Duterte dared Taguba to show proof because all the statements being issued were based on rumors.
The President has said that he would resign if his son was proven to be engaging in corruption activities.