Chris Brown’s promoter detained by immigration bureau

The promoter of singer Chris Brown has been held at the detention center of the Bureau of Immigration in Taguig City.

Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison said John Michael “Mike” Pio Roda, the Filipino-Canadian concert promoter of Brown, was detained due to an immigration violation.

He said Pio Roda’s violations were “working without permit and defrauding creditors by absconding.”

Mison said the absconding issue was related to Chris Brown’s New Year’s Eve concert at Ciudad de Victoria, Bocaue in Bulacan, organized by Iglesia ni Cristo.

The concert, however, was cancelled after Brown claimed he lost his passport a day before his supposed flight to Manila from Los Angeles.

The Maligaya Development Corp. of Iglesia ni Cristo filed the complaint before the Department of Justice, claiming they had already paid Pio Roda but the promoter refused to return the payment.

Asked how long Pio Roda would be detained, Mison said the promoter needed to answer the allegations against him and settle financial matters with INC.