Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima re-issued a deportation order on Tuesday for the alleged gambling kingpin from China, Bo Wang. Thursday morning he left the country from Ninoy Aquino International Airport with escorts aboard.

The case was mired in controversy since his arrest at the same airport on February 5th. On March 5th the Bureau of Immigration’s Board of Commissioners issued a deportation order based on information from Interpol and Chinese officials who accused Bo of embezzlement, money laundering and heading up a major illegal gambling network.

His name was removed from the deportation list in May when board members said there was no proof his passport had been cancelled and no warrant for his arrest. That action led to allegations of bribery and an investigation by the House of Representatives followed by a fact finding probe by the DOJ. Commissioners denied any wrongdoing in the case.

On June 8th Secretary of Justice Leila De Lima issued a resolution to override the commission’s decision and deport Wang. However that action was delayed because of the internal investigation. Once the investigation showed that there was no, “direct or indirect pieces of evidence pointing to pay-offs between the party of Bo Wang and any official/employee of the Bureau of Immigration,” De Lima determined the probe could no longer delay the deportation.

Wang entered the Philippines on a Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) work visa, purportedly to launder money from his crimes in China. This form of visa allows a great deal of freedom to enter and leave the country.

Wang was being held at the Camp Bagong Diwa detention facility in Taguig. There has been no word from mainland China’s official news outlets on his current whereabouts. However the case is not expected to disappear from the media entirely as far-reaching allegations into the Philippine political process were made in the course of his deportation.