Ang Pahayagan

A former CEO of Ocean Adventure in Subic Bay Freeport has evaded summary deportation, prompting the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to issue a lookout order for the convicted American fraudster.

Convicted American national Timothy Desmond was ordered deported in 2016 for defrauding investors of hundreds of millions of pesos invested in the said theme park.

Atty. Laddie B. Barredo of the Barredo Law Office in Olongapo City said that the Olongapo City District Jail wrongly released the former CEO of SBMEI/Ocean Adventure, claiming that the 76-year-old American national was turned over to a satellite office of the BI.

Desmond was recently released from the Olongapo City District Jail despite a final deportation order from the BI. Jail officials failed to transfer him to immigration custody as required by law. Desmond was convicted of perjury related to a massive corporate fraud scheme.

“If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Bureau of Immigration immediately,” Barredo said.

The legal counsel added, “We are back to square one. After 20 years of litigation to put this criminal in jail and get him deported, a single jail official has undone it all with the stroke of a pen.”

“Where is the accountability? The Bureau of Immigration did its job. The courts did their job. But now, a man who stole from Filipino investors and was convicted by a Filipino court has been set free by a Filipino jail warden. It’s a betrayal of public trust,” he said.

“We are calling on the public: if you see this man, do not approach him. Contact the Bureau of Immigration immediately. Help us ensure that justice is finally served,” he furthered.

Barredo said that Desmond was supposed to be deported back to the United States as he was subject to summary deportation for being an undesirable alien.

The Barredo Law Office cited that “upon completion of service of sentence, PDL Desmond should be turned over to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) detention facility for summary deportation,” pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 613 or the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940.

The legal counsel also cited Rule 9 of the Bureau of Immigration, adding that summary deportation proceedings shall apply when the foreigner has fully served the sentence for his crimes.

Desmond’s whereabouts are currently unknown as the order for summary deportation by the BI still stands, further raising questions about the reliability of government agencies in handling undesirable aliens remaining in the country.