Clark’s Fontana Leisure Parks & Casino has been ordered by local regulatory body Clark Development Corporation (CDC) to indefinitely halt all operations for failure to meet its financial and contractual operations.
The CDC issued a statement late Tuesday confirming it had implemented a cease and desist order against Fontana Development Corporation (FDC) and Fontana Resort and Country Club, Inc, effective immediately, directing the entities to stop all operations within their leased area, including the 52-hectare property currently managed by Korea Country Club, Inc, pending compliance with their contractual obligations.
“CDC issued the cease and desist order due to the numerous violations committed by FDC, including failure to meet financial obligations, non-fulfillment of commitments under the Lease Agreement, and non-compliance with the Fire Code and National Building Code, among others,” the CDC said.
Fontana is home to one of the seven casinos located within the Clark Freeport Zone but boasts a troubled past, having been shut down twice previously in the past decade – most recently in 2020 after authorities discovered an illegal makeshift hospital for Chinese citizens suspected of COVID-19 infection on its premises.
Fontana’s casino operations were also famously closed down in December 2016 following the arrest of around 1,300 illegal Chinese workers inside the leisure park that was at the time owned by former Macau junket identity Jack Lam.
Lam was later accused of trying to pay off Bureau of Immigration officials in exchange for the release of those workers, although the allegation was later withdrawn due to “mistaken assumption or interpretation of facts and circumstances,” with the immigration officials involved accused of attempted extortion.
Nevertheless, the bribery scandal ultimately led to Lam’s exit from Macau-based junket Jimei International Entertainment, with Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR also revoking Jimei’s gaming license at Fontana and the Fort Ilocandia Hotel in Laoag City.
Casino operations at Fontana resumed in 2019 under new ownership.
