Nani may still face launder raps

MANILA, Philippines – Former justice secretary Hernando “Nani” Perez may still be charged with money laundering in connection with the $2-million extortion case filed against him and three others before the Sandiganbayan as the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has yet to conclude its investigation on the charges, an official at the Office of the Ombudsman revealed yesterday.

The AMLC did not immediately pursue investigation on possible money laundering charges against Perez because it had to wait for findings of the Ombudsman on the extortion case. The official said the council would use information in the complaint filed by the anti-graft body with the Sandiganbayan as basis for its probe.

“That (filing of money laundering charges against Perez) is still possible, depending on results of the ongoing investigation of AMLC. But I think details of this investigation are being kept confidential because of the sensitivity of the matter,” the source told The STAR.

“They (AMLC) would bank their investigation on our findings and complaint. If they find enough ground to pursue charges (of money laundering) and file complaint with us, then we will do our job,” the official added.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Ombudsman did not include in its investigation the money laundering aspect of the complaint filed, but later on withdrawn, by former Manila congressman Mark Jimenez as it was under the jurisdiction of AMLC.

“Cases being handled by the AMLC are delicate since money laundering involves transactions of parties from different countries. I think they are being careful so as not to jeopardize diplomatic relations,” the source explained.

The Ombudsman was criticized for not including money laundering in charges it filed against Perez and three others before the Sandiganbayan last April 18. The anti-graft body instead split four charges – graft, robbery/extortion, falsification of public documents and grave misconduct – against the former Cabinet secretary.

The Swiss government investigated Perez and his co-accused – wife Rosario, brother-in-law Ramon Arceo and business associate Ernest Escaler - for alleged money laundering.

On March 17, 2003, Swiss Federal Prosecutor Brent Holtkamp, through the Swiss embassy in Manila, informed the Philippine government of his initial findings on his investigation of the Perezes, Arceo and Escaler for allegedly violating his country’s Anti-Money Laundering Law by transferring a total of $1.7 million to a bank in Switzerland.

Ironically, the AMLC did not investigate the Perezes and their associates.

Holtkamp’s report, as reported last week by The STAR, is the document that links Mrs. Arroyo’s first justice secretary to the $2 million that he is accused of extorting from Jimenez.

It details the “laundering” and movement of funds with the use of several bank accounts and at least two corporations formed in countries that are known as money havens.

Without the report, the paper and money trail stops with Escaler, in whose account in Coutts Bank in Hong Kong Jimenez transferred the funds from Trade and Commerce Bank in Cayman Islands through Chase Manhattan Bank in New York upon the instruction of Escaler, who, according to Jimenez, fronted for then Secretary Perez.

The former congressman made the transfer on Feb. 23, 2001.

The Holtkamp report shows that deposit account 338118 was opened about two weeks later on March 5 in the EFG Private Bank branch in Geneva in the name of Mrs. Perez and Arceo.

Though they were the account holders, the two, however, executed a special power of attorney in favor of Perez.

“On March 6, 2001, the account number 338118 did actually receive an amount of US$1 million from the account of Ernest de Leon Escaler at the Coutts (Schweiz) AG Hong Kong,” the Swiss prosecutor’s report states.

Later, Mrs. Perez and Arceo opened another account at the EFG Private Bank branch in Guernsey, another city in Switzerland.

Escaler, according to Holtkamp’s investigation, transferred $699,985 to the Guernsey account in May 2001.

“These amounts were then the object of different investments and inter-account movements,” the report states.

The Geneva account of Mrs. Perez and Arceo was closed on Oct. 10, 2001.

With its closure, Escaler’s account in the same EFG Private Bank branch, which he opened on March 27, 2001, “received capital in return in several transfers.”