New charges filed against Estrada

New charges filed against Estrada

MANILA (AP): The Justice Department filed a new criminal complaint on Friday against former president Joseph Estrada after an estranged friend claimed the ousted leader extorted and borrowed 346 million pesos ($7.2 million) without paying it back. Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Estrada used his position to "unjustly enrich himself at the expense ... of the Filipino people and the republic through a series of overt and/or criminal acts."

Businessman Mark Jimenez, one of Estrada's presidential campaign financiers and later an adviser on Latin American affairs, said in an affidavit that he gave Estrada the $7.2 million from December 1998 to August 2000.

Jimenez, who is running for a seat in Congress in May elections, said he "personally hand-delivered each check" to Estrada.

Jimenez said one 10 million peso ($208,300) check he issued was eventually deposited in an account under the name Jose Velarde, which prosecutors said was an alias used by Estrada for his alleged secret bank accounts.