New charges filed against Estrada

Sat, 03 Mar 2001, 00:00 WIB | Source: AP

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.

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