RP prosecutor issue writs for more Estrada accounts
RP prosecutor issue writs for more Estrada accounts
MANILA (Agencies): Corruption investigators ordered on Friday the local unit of U.S. lender Citibank NA to surrender records of deposits of ousted Philippines leader Joseph Estrada, who faces a barrage of lawsuits.
Ombudsman Aniano Desierto said these "would be used in connection with the investigation relating to the statement of assets and liabilities" of the former president, who has been accused of having US$400 million in ill-gotten wealth.
Citibank must produce records on a three-million-dollar foreign currency deposit "already admitted by the former president," and which was frozen by the internal revenue bureau last month, he added.
A day earlier, the ombudsman had ordered nine local banks to open up for scrutiny accounts allegedly held by the fallen leader. The banks have until Thursday to comply.
Desierto vowed to carry out swift justice on Estrada, who could face the death penalty if found guilty of plunder. Desierto said the graft probe of Estrada would wind up "in 30 days or even less."
Estrada had until Monday to answer criminal complaints of amassing illegal wealth, but he has challenged the legality of the inquiry and the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case next Thursday.
"We are all doing overtime. We need more people, but some of these cases have been moving fast. They are even complaining that we are railroading the cases," Desierto said.
He vowed that the criminal cases would not end up like those against former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, which are languishing in courts nearly 15 years after his ouster under a similar military-backed popular revolt in 1986.
Desierto stressed that the 63-year-old former movie star Estrada and his family are barred from leaving the country. Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and was never prosecuted.
None of the Marcos relatives or allies has been jailed for allegedly stealing billions of dollars from state coffers during his 20-year rule.
Rumors swirled in the capital on Friday that Estrada planned to flee the Philippines.
Estrada told the Malaya newspaper in an exclusive interview that he would likely seek permission to fly to the United States next month for eye treatment, but that he would not agree to banishment.
The private complainants in the cases alleged he amassed 200 million dollars in secret bank accounts and acquired another 200 million dollars' worth of properties held by mistresses, dummy corporations or cronies.
Estrada has not claimed these accounts but Desierto said that if the bank accounts were truly in his name, that would be enough evidence of guilt.
"It is impossible. In this country, you cannot earn that much legally," Desierto said.
Estrada declared a net worth of 35.9 million pesos (US$737,000) last year and he could be charged if he did not include the accounts in the statement, the ombudsman added.
Estrada went on trial in the Senate after Congress impeached him for graft, bribery, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution.
But the Senate failed to hand down a verdict last month, sparking a military-backed popular revolt that toppled him.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said the evidence from the banks would bolster the earlier charges from the Senate trial that Estrada received bribes from illegal gambling rackets, embezzled government funds and was linked to a firm involved in an insider-trading scandal.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo swore in 11 secretaries and her vice president in a brief ceremony on Friday, filling out her Cabinet after three weeks in office.
Vice President Teofisto Guingona, nominated on Tuesday and confirmed by Congress a day later, called his swearing in "a great honor. I hope I can live up to the trust the people have given me."
Guingona, 72, will likely also serve as the secretary of foreign affairs.
Arroyo swore in two secretaries who served under her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, but resigned late last year after corruption allegations surfaced against him.
After his swearing in on Friday, Trade and Industry Secretary Manuel Roxas occupies the position he held before resigning last year from Estrada's Cabinet. Filemon Uriarte was also reappointed to the Department of Science and Technology.
The Cabinet members are also expected to sign in coming days an oath, drafted by the president, pledging "respect for others," a simple lifestyle and focusing on the poor, among other things.