Philippine billionaire and political figure Albee Benitez has recently been embroiled in a dispute concerning family assets and shares in a gambling enterprise.
Explosive revelations on social media claim that his early holdings in DigiPlus were transferred to his ex-wife in 2004, sparking intense scrutiny over his asset structure, control of the company, and the background of Chinese capital involved.
Recently, Philippine internet celebrity Xian Gaza publicly disclosed a document allegedly signed in 2004, a divorce agreement. The document shows that Benitez transferred 31.6 million shares of DigiPlus (stock code: PLUS) to his ex-wife Nikki.
Although the shares were not highly valued at the time, the company has recently undergone a major strategic transformation and its market value has rapidly increased. Originally named Leisure & Resorts World Corp., DigiPlus restructured under Chinese enterprise leadership since 2021, fully transitioning to online gambling services. Its subsidiaries, BingoPlus and ArenaPlus, have now become well-known local brands.
The stock price has increased nearly 40 times, and the value of these shares is now estimated at about 1.6 billion pesos.
Despite the early transfer of these shares, the exposure of this event has immediately drawn high attention to potential changes in the Benitez family's wealth pattern and corporate control.
According to financial regulatory disclosures, by the end of 2024, Benitez had sold about 37.78 million PLUS shares in batches, still holding 371 million shares, with the related assets valued at over 18.8 billion pesos.
The incident also involves personal emotional disputes and legal proceedings. Gaza stated that Benitez's ex-wife had filed a lawsuit under the "Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act" (RA 9262), with the documents mentioning famous internet celebrity Ivana Alawi as a "third party." Gaza's comments were also interpreted by the public as defending Ivana. He said: "The focus of this case has already gone beyond the scope of marriage, fundamentally revolving around a reshuffle of wealth and power."
As a large gambling enterprise controlled by Chinese capital, DigiPlus's senior equity and family disputes involving share freezing, inheritance, or transfer could potentially trigger a chain reaction affecting the company's governance model and the regulatory mechanism of the Philippine gambling industry. The situation is still under further observation.
