Gov’t seeks Swiss help in launder raps vs Perez

Ombudsman probers have started gathering evidence against former justice secretary Hernando Perez for his alleged money-laundering activities.

Assistant Ombudsman Ernesto Nocos said probers have sent a letter "some three weeks ago" to Swiss authorities requesting details on Perez’s alleged $2 million deposit in a Swiss bank which purportedly came from former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez.

The request included a summary of the fund’s movement from Singapore to Switzerland and the accounts in Swiss banks that were allegedly opened by his wife, Rosario, banker Ernest Escaler and brother-in-law Ramon Arceo.

Nocos said the Ombudsman probe is still in the "fact-finding" stage and needs solid evidence before a preliminary investigation can commence.

"We cannot immediately proceed without the necessary documents. We need the documents for the purpose of whether a formal investigation can be conducted," he said in an interview.

Nocos, who also serves as spokesman for the Ombudsman, said prosecutors must have copies of the documents and the necessary details for the government to have an airtight case.

"Perez has to answer based on evidence. He has to answer it point by point. If there is no evidence, then it won’t result to anything," he explained.

Former solicitor general Frank Chavez earlier urged the Arroyo administration to pursue the probe on Perez, saying that laying low on the case might be perceived by the public as the government’s effort to protect its own, especially since Perez is reportedly close to the President.

In a privilege speech, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III earlier criticized the government’s inaction on Perez’s case, saying it took Swiss prosecutors "to investigate our own former justice secretary for alleged money laundering."

Before Jimenez was extradited to the US last Dec. 26, he disclosed that Perez extorted $2 million from him in exchange for his exclusion in the plunder charge against former President Joseph Estrada and for turning him into a state witness against the deposed leader.

Perez denied this, saying Jimenez was just a "desperate man" trying to evade extradition and trial in the United States.