THE team owner of Soccsksargen Marlins was among 21 persons charged before the Department of Justice for alleged game-fixing and point-shaving by Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) officials on Tuesday.
The charges were filed before the DoJ by MPBL commissioner Kenneth Duremdes, who was accompanied by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
A total of 17 counts of betting, multiple counts of game-fixing and points shaving as defined and penalized under Section 1 and 3 of Presidential Decree (PD) 483 as amended by PD 1602 had been filed against listed team owner Kevin Espinosa, who also plays for the team from time to time, and the rest of the respondents that include three Chinese nationals identified through their aliases as ‘Mr. Sung,’ ‘Kein,’ and ‘Emma.’
A source, however, said Espinosa is not really the team owner but only stands as the Marlins’ team manager.

Senator Manny Pacquiao, founder and chairman of the fledgling league, later presented to mediamen a two-page paper that contained the names of the personalities involved during a press conference at the Sofitel Hotel where he was joined by Duremdes and legal counsel Brando Viernes.
According to the complaint, the respondents worked to rig the result of games played in the MPBL between July and October.
The others charged were Soccsksargen players Exequiel Biteng, Jerome Juanico, Jake Diwa, Matthew Bernabe, Julio Magbanua, Abraham Santos, John Patrick Rabe, Ricky Murillo, and Ryan Regalado.
Other respondents were Sonny Uy, Serafin Matias, EJ Avila, Nino Dionisio, Nice Ilagan, and Janus Lozada, all of Armor On, which, according to sources, has been sponsoring the team in its MPBL campaign.

Also charged were players Ferdinand Melocoton and Joshua Alcober.
The management of Soccksargen has yet to issue a statement on the controversy that came a week after Senator Pacquiao suspended the team for the current Lakan Season on game-fixing and point-shaving allegations.
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