Jimenez insists he wired $2 million to Nani

Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez insisted yesterday that he wired $2 million to Coutts Bank of Hong Kong on Feb. 23, 2001 and that the huge sum was intended for Justice Secretary Hernando Perez.

Reacting to a certification from Coutts Bank that Perez does not have an account in the bank, Jimenez said he has the report of his bank in Uruguay to prove that it transferred the money to the Hong Kong bank through Trade and Commerce Bank in the Cayman Islands and Chase Manhattan Bank in New York.

"They gave me the account number and I wired the money there," he said.

He said upon the instruction of the embattled justice secretary, businessman Ernest Escaler faxed to him on Feb. 14, 2001 a "deposit instruction" indicating the account number in Coutts Bank to which the money was to be transferred.

During an interview with Ricardo Puno in "Dong Puno Nightly" on ABS-CBN Monday night, Jimenez said he would produce the fax message from Escaler when he files the case with the proper forum.

"Why would Perez and Escaler go to Hong Kong the day the money arrived there?" asked Jimenez, noting that the two returned to the country two days later.

On Monday, Jimenez, in an emotional privileged speech, categorically accused Perez of extorting $2 million from him.

He indicated in that speech that he deposited the money in the justice secretary’s account and even urged him to waive the secrecy of his transactions in Coutts Bank so the transfer could be easily traced. He claimed Escaler "fronted" for Perez.

The neophyte Manila congressman, who is facing extradition to the United States, has not revealed the documents he has in his possession, but apparently these are the same as those that his friend and colleague, Bulacan Rep. Willie Buyson Villarama, has made public.

It was Villarama who made the expose on the "Million Dollar Man" in President Arroyo’s Cabinet.

One of the documents he revealed is a Trade and Commerce Bank (Uruguay) "deposit detail report" indicating that exactly $1,999,965 was transferred on Feb. 23, 2001 to Coutts Bank (Hong Kong) through Trade and Commerce Bank (Cayman Islands) and Chase Manhattan.

The other document is what Jimenez referred to as the payment instruction.

Both papers indicated the "beneficiary account" to which the money was to be deposited — account number HO 13706. They also named the bank officer who was to receive the transfer: Angela Shum.

Villarama also urged Perez to elaborate on his admission in an interview yesterday morning on radio that he went to Hong Kong in the early part of 2001 and met Escaler by chance.

The Coutts Bank account was the same account that opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson referred to in naming Perez as the Million Dollar Man in Mrs. Arroyo’s Cabinet.

Lacson, however, claimed the $2 million was part of a $14 million payoff that a power firm made for bagging a huge power plant rehabilitation contract.

Yesterday, Jimenez urged the senator to stay off the controversy since "he should not speak on something that does not involve him."

In a related development, the congressman-son of Perez, as expected, defended his father yesterday morning.

In a privileged speech, Batangas Rep. Frank Perez said he cannot believe Jimenez’s accusation that his father extorted money from the Manila congressman and that he is "evil-spirited and demonic."

"He’s just doing his job too well that he has stepped on the toes of some people who are fighting for their survival," he said.

He echoed his father’s assertion that Jimenez could be desperately trying to keep himself from being extradited.

"I am not angry at him. In fact, I pity him. I certainly can understand the pain he’s been going through," he said.

Jimenez said his extortion accusation has nothing to do with his possible eventual extradition to the US.

He reiterated that he was ready to face the charges leveled against him by US authorities and that he had offered to voluntarily return to the US but that Perez convinced American prosecutors to reject the offer because Jimenez would be extradited anyway. –With Cecille Suerte Felipe