Faustino Chingkoe, who is alleged to be the mastermind of a massive tax scam in the Philippines, has been granted permission to return and be with his family in Richmond, B.C.

Frustrated prosecutors in Manila are now pleading with the courts to reconsider the decision saying Chingkoe is a flight risk and will not return to face charges if he leaves for Canada.

Faustino Chingkoe

Chingkoe according to court documents filed in Manila holds Canadian, Fijian, Korean and Philippine passports.

"The Asian Pacific Post reported in July 2003":http://www.asianpacificpost.com/news/article/96.html that Chingkoe and his wife Gloria Eng Eng Chingkoe had fled to Richmond where they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying up real estate.

An investigation by The Asian Pacific Post showed that Chingkoe and his family were residing at Tolmie St. in Richmond in a house worth over C$500,000.

The couple had also invested in several other properties on Westminster Highway and on Alderbridge Way in Richmond, according to property records.

At that time the couple was declared Philippines' 'most wanted' after being accused of defrauding the government of some 5 billion pesos (C$130 million) in tax revenues.

Manila is now working on a request for Canada to extradite Gloria to face charges at the same time as a court has allowed her husband to travel to Canada.

The scam reportedly engineered by the Chingkoes resulted in the "financial hemorrhage" of billions of pesos in lost government revenues for the Philippines, which is one of the poorer Southeast Asian nations.

It also involved allegations of collusion by government officials who tried to protect the key players in the tax credit scam by filing a flawed prosecution case.

Assistant Special Prosecutor Elvira Chua in court documents filed this month in Manila said Chingkoe, head of the Chingkoe group of 11 companies, appeared to be winding down his business affairs in the Philippines.

"For one, his business conglomerate in the Philippines has dwindled as shown by the fact that his principal corporation, Diamond Knitting Corp., has not been submitting the required quarterly production sales report to the Board of Investments," Chua said.

She pointed out that Chingkoe was facing criminal charges for which if convicted he would be forced to pay back more than C$130 millions to the government.

On March 9, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division chaired by Associate Justice Gregory Ong granted Chingkoe's petition to travel abroad, specifically to Hong Kong, the United States and Canada, between March 16 and April 16 subject to certain conditions, despite the opposition of government prosecutors.

Among the conditions were Chingkoe's strict adherence to his declared itinerary, the posting of a travel bond, and that he report to the court within five days of his return to the country.

British Columbia already has an international reputation for being a safe haven for some of Asia's most wanted persons.

Among them are China's most wanted, Lai Changxing who is trying to gain refugee status in Canada. China accuses Lai Changxing and his wife Tsang Mingna of masterminding a multi-billion dollar smuggling and corruption ring, allegedly the largest illegal operation in China's history. Also in the list is Rakesh Saxena of Thailand who is accused of bringing down a Bangkok bank and triggering the Asian financial crisis.