Philippine Regulator Accused Of Crypto Industry Corruption

Raul LAMBINO, administrator of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), which licenses cryptocurrency exchanges, is suspected of corruption. On February 20 The Manila Times published an article stating that Lambino possesses unexplained wealth of $10 million. In its material, the newspaper refers to an alleged leak of information from the Philippine National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA).

It is assumed that for each cryptocurrency company that submits an application for registration of its activities under the CEZA, Lambino charges $100,000 for basic license fees plus a similar fee for an application review. However, the NICA report says that Lambino records a fee of $3,000 only.

NICA claims that Lambino traveled abroad 22 times during the year, violating a travel ban on Philippine government officials. The report says:

“Luxurious travels for the CEZA top management and their platoon of security personnel have become the norm.”

An intelligence agency report indicates that Lambino handed out televisions and groceries as gifts to residents of Pangasinan province to promote voters support as he is going to enter the Philippines Congress in 2022. NICA are confident that Lambino’s tenure at CEZA will end soon, further investigation is possible.

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