Philippnes Police Steal Yolanda Hurricane Relief Aid in Bodog Raid: G911 World Exclusive i
The Philippines CIDG actually took way more than computers, phones, servers, laptops and monitors during their raid on the Bodog offices throughout metro Manila, which has everyone in complete shock especially since the whole entire world reads Gambling911.com.
They stole thousands of dollars worth of Hurricane Yolanda relief aid that the company's employees were packaging up the entire week before the raid. This comes at a time when Philippines authorities lambasted CNN for saying they did not have any type of organization on the ground following the destruction brought on by Typhoon Yolanda. Now we know why. If only CNN's Anderson Cooper really knew what was going on in the Philippines! Authorities apparently were too busy raiding respectable companies in Manila and confiscating funds destined for typhoon relief, a tragedy on top of another tragedy. Well now he will know and we are fairly confident he'll be calling out government authorities shortly on the most widely viewed news network worldwide once he is made aware of these shocking details.
"Sometimes I hate my country and how corrupt it can be, it is very embarrassing," stated one Bodog Nation employee that did not want to be iidentified out of fear for their safety. "Our managers ordered food for the staff, the police kept trying to eat it when we were not looking. It was clear that they were getting restless and hungry while keeping all of us locked down. When we realized they were stealing our pizza, we moved it so they could not find it in order to insure other employees were able to eat. We had no idea how long they were going to keep us there and were threatening us with being held for 36 hours. As soon as the pizza was gone, they started eating the food we had stocked up over the past week from our Hurricane Yolanda disaster relief. They did not eat that much food at our office but I just thought this was rude, then I found out they actually took all of the aid we worked so hard at collecting after the raid. ALL OF IT! I understand you want to take the computers but why steal something earmarked for the poor Filipinos suffering in Tacloban. Shameful."
Despite the alleged misbehavior by some of the officers, Bodog has issued a statement that it is cooperating fully with the authorities to resolve the confusion stemming from the false allegations that led to the raid.
Robert Gustafsson, the former Bodog employee believed to have provided the false info that led to the raid, has been on a social media rampage since last week. Posting several spam messages about the imminent collapse of Bodog. The move wreaked of desperation and will hardly get you any fans in the forums or with mainstream media outlets being a spammer Robbie.
Gustafsson went on the air with a local Manila news outlet on Monday night local time, saying how much he loved the Philippines and it's people. He was trying to position himself as a Robin Hood figure to anyone that would listen. Mostly he was trying to reach out to his ex-staff to save face. At one point in the interview Gustafsson claimed how "we bribed people in Macau", then later he said he had nothing to do with it. Which is it Robert? Sounds like a Freudian slip to me folks. We discussed this allegation with a Bodog rep and they say they do not do any business of any sort in Macau so whatever Gustafssson was bribing he did it on his own.
Let's keep things in perspective as Gambling911.com has extensively reported, Robert is the guy that use to run Bodog Asia and was fired after the board of directors found financial irregularities on the books under his watch. A forensic audit has been happening and several theft charges have been filed against Gustafsson and several of his cohorts including Sherwin Quiambao and Sylvia de Guzman.
Various gambling industry media sources have confirmed to Gambling911.com that someone is sending out fake Philippines Government press releases that attempt to throw Bodog and Bodog brand founder Calvin Ayre under the bus, however they are being sent from a GMAIL account in the US.
"We have had some truly extraordinary emails coming through from the 'other side' (Robert Gustafsson Gang) on this. Very much keeping our counsel at the moment and the only reporting on what appear to be hard facts. Getting an 'official government press release' from a gmail address didn't exactly assuage my concerns. Keeping a watching brief on it, but not a fan of being played for a fool by anyone."
I don't claim to be a Psychologist but I remember a few things from my class called Projection.
Psychological projection was conceptualized by Sigmund Freud in the 1890s as a defense mechanism in which a person unconsciously rejects his or her own unacceptable attributes by ascribing them to objects or persons in the outside world.
"I almost pissed in my pants with some of the accusations Robbie was leveling against Calvin," stated one former industry ex-pat living in the Philippines. "At first I thought he was talking about himself when he was discussing bedding young women, getting wasted, partying and bragging about how he conducted business."
On Monday, the CalvinAyre.com site published an article detailing how the woman at the heart of the wild allegations about Ayre has since filed papers with Philippine prosecutors recanting her original statement, which she says she was coerced into making after being physically threatened by members of the Robert Gustafsson gang. We are searching for a copy of this retraction now and intend to publish it as soon as we get it. Apparently its specifically fingers Sylvia De Guzman as the one in charge of the coercion.
Bodog reps maintain that its players aren't facing any disruption to their online activities as a result of the raid, but Philippines gambling regulators really need to come out with an official statement in support of their licensee or risk losing all credibility as a viable online gambling regulatory regime in our opinion.
You would think that the CIDG would actually have reached out to the regulatory body directly before this raid went down.
We are also following up on leads coming out of Sweden of previous scams pulled by con man Gustafsson. Stay tuned for the rest of this industry train wreck.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com