Lawyer petitions Samuel Co's arrest order over Aman scam

COTABATO City, Philippines - A lawyer in Pagadian City seeks to stop a judge from sending to jail Mayor Samuel Co for his alleged involvement in a multi-billion Aman Futures investment scam.

Lawyer Ferdinand Pablo, legal counsel for the outgoing Pagadian City mayor said that only the Sandiganbayan can send public officials to jail for charges of graft.

Judge Alberto Quinto of the Regional Trial Court of Zamboanga del Sur, has issued a warrant for the arrest of Co and 11 other people accused of having involvement in the pyramiding scam. No bail was recommended for the mayor and the others.

A special panel of prosecutors headed by Edna Valenzuela has accused Co of estafa, along with Aman incorporators and officers Manuel Amalilio, Fernando Luna, Lelian Lim Gan, Eduardo Lim, Wilanie Fuentes, Naezelle Rodriguez, Lurix Lopex, Jason de los Reyes, Jerome Sanchez, Oliver Dequito, and Abigail Pendulas “under Article 315, par. 2(a) of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Presidential Decree 1689.”

Amalilio is currently under the custody of Malaysian authorities after he was arrested for the possession of a fake passport last January.

The prosecutors cited that Co had entered into a memorandum of agreement with Aman for the imposition of individual investor’s tax by the Pagadian city government.

Saying Co should be tried by the Sandiganbayan as a public official for any graft-related case, Pablo said charging his client along with the other accused, would not help win true justice for the victims of the pyramid investment scam.

Pablo said that under Section 4 of Republic Act (RA) 8249 “only the Sandiganbayan (has) original jurisdiction (over) violations of RA 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, RA 1379, and the Revised Penal Code, where one or more of the principal accused are officials occupying positions in the government, including city mayors, vice-mayors, members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod, city treasurers, assessors, engineers, and other city department heads.”

An affidavit issued by Julius Labunog, a prosecution witness, said Co had “entered into a memorandum of agreement” with the beleaguered pyramid investment group for the city’s imposition of four percent in tax upon amounts of individual investment.

Insisting that he was also a victim as an investor himself, Co said that the city government had officially collected only P39,790 from Aman for a business tax covered by official receipts.

The special panel of prosecutors created by the Department of Justice also noted that as an Aman officer and respondent, Gan had told the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) under oath that she had “issued a certification declaring respondent Co as an ‘authorized agent’ of Aman Futures for (its) online trading.”

Co had brought his case to the Court of Appeals, saying the prosecutors “failed to establish a probable cause” by depending much on the statements of Labunog and Gan. His lawyers said there was no indication that the mayor had accepted the spurious appointment, “even if it existed,” adding that the panel was unable to produce Gan’s certificate.

Co said that of the more than 8,000 cases filed against the owners and officers of Aman Futures Group Philippines Inc., government prosecutors had premised their case primarily on the basis of Labunog and Gan’s statements only.