Racehorse owner claiming to be ‘Palace Usec’ nabbed

Money scammed from victims could reach P800 million— PAOCC

On Feb 14, 2023

Racehorse owner cum scam artist Edward ‘Don Edong’ Diokno, at the VIP lounge of a racetrack during happier times. Diokno was arrested February 13, 2023 by the CIDG for scamming people and groups of their money with the amount reaching P800 million, more or less, in exchange for high government positions and lucrative government contracts, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (ctto).

THE Criminal Investigation Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (CIDG-PNP) has arrested a racehorse owner who had posed as an “undersecretary” at the office of Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and who allegedly collected millions from persons and groups seeking high-government jobs and government contracts in the Marcos administration.

Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), a bemedaled former police general, identified the suspect as Edward Diokno Eje, who was arrested on Monday, February 13, 2023, at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) by operatives from the CIDG.

Diokno is well-known in the local racehorse industry as ‘Don Edong’ Diokno and as the ‘King of Baclaran’ (‘Hari ng Baclaran’).

Cruz, in a talk with Pinoy Exposé, said Diokno made a lot of money, “more or less, P800 million” by misrepresenting himself as being close to the powers-that-be in Malacañang, dating back to “previous administrations.”

“By his own admission, he had made, more or less P800 million over the years by misrepresenting himself, sometimes as connected to the Office of the President, sometimes as a close friend or relative of some officials,” Cruz explained in the vernacular.

He added that Diokno has been masquerading himself as a very influential figure dating back to the previous administrations. “But now, he got caught, finally,” Cruz added.

Among the bogus identification cards seized from Diokno was an ID identifying him as an “undersecretary” at the Office of the President.

Edward ‘Don Edong’ Diokno (in orange detainee garb) being presented by the CIDG during a press conference and confrontation with his victims, February 14, 2023 (CIDG photo handout).

It can be recalled that last January 27, 2023, about 8 ‘presidential appointees’ went to Malacañang for their purported oath-taking before Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. only to find out that they have been scammed (see also Pinoy Exposé, February 2, 2023).

The group said they coursed their applications thru a certain ‘Undersecretary Eduardo Diokno’ purportedly an undersecretary at the office of Bersamin.

The resulting scandal resulted to the Palace ordering a thorough investigation of the incident that led to the arrest of Diokno.

Aside from an ‘appointment scam,’ Cruz said Diokno is also into a ‘government contract scam’ where victims are made to shell out huge sums of money in exchange for huge government contracts.

As a racehorse owner, Diokno is not also new to controversies. During the 2021 Presidential Gold Cup held last December 12, 2021, his winning horse, ‘Skyshot’ was stripped of its win and its jockey, FM Raquel, suspended by the Philippine Racing Commission (Philracom) over the protest of cheating filed by Sandy Javier, another racehorse owner.