'De la Paz not yet off the hook'

Retired police comptroller Director Eliseo de la Paz is not yet off the hook even if the Philippine National Police gets back the 105,000 euros or P6.9 million seized by the Russian authorities in a Moscow airport last Oct. 11.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said the Office of the Ombudsman has a separate investigation into the alleged unauthorized release of the money from the PNP Directorate for Intelligence (DI), which was made by De la Paz before the trip to Russia of the police delegation to the International Police (Interpol) conference last Oct. 6 to 11 in Russia.

De la Paz and his wife Marife were held at a Moscow airport for carrying the undeclared euros after they attended the 77th Interpol General Assembly in St. Petersburg, Russia.

“In the first place, General De la Paz’s accountability with the PNP will be cleared once the entire amount (105 euros) is transmitted to the account of the PNP. The PNP is only going after the money. As far as the Ombudsman (is concerned), they have a separate investigation,” said Bartolome.

De la Paz retired last Oct. 9 and the PNP has no more hold on him administratively. The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) stopped its investigation on the case after the Ombudsman started its own probe.

The Ombudsman has yet to issue any ruling on the case almost three months after the incident.

A lawyer interviewed by The STAR said the Ombudsman could still pursue the charges against De la Paz even if the euros have been returned to the PNP since he already committed the crime.

“The crime has been committed, and the return of the money will not change that. Though the return of the money can be a mitigating circumstance,” said the lawyer, who requested anonymity because he is not involved in the case.

De la Paz’s lawyer Noel Malaya said the PNP might finally get back the 105,000 euros from Moscow after Russian authorities cleared him of any criminal offense.

Malaya said the seized euros are now in the trust account of De la Paz’s Russian lawyer Alex Binetskiy but there were some documents and legal requirements that had to be met before the money can be returned to the PNP account.

“Usually the process takes two to three weeks,” said Malaya, who noted that Binetskiy arrived in Manila last Dec. 22 to “facilitate and expedite” the local legal and documentary requirements.

He said the Russians dismissed the case against De la Paz and his wife after they found during investigation that the couple had no intent of hiding or smuggling the money from Russia.

“There was no criminal intent. The Russian investigators concluded that the wife (Mrs. De la Paz) had no intent of smuggling and did not hide the currency she was carrying. She showed it to the police officer on first request,” Malaya said.

Malaya said the DFA letter to the DILG “wishes to inform and provide a copy to the DILG chief the results of the investigation made by the Russian Customs Office’s investigation division conducted by Investigator Rodenko.” He said the letter stated that the criminal prosecution had been dismissed.