MANILA, Philippines -- Malacanang on Saturday said it would leave concerned agencies to work on the deportation from Malaysia of businessman Manuel Amalilio to face charges here of bilking thousands of people of billions of pesos in a pyramid scam.
Deputy Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte said there is as yet no need for President Benigno Aquino III to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to ask for the return of Amalilio.
Amalilio fled the country last year after the P12-billion scam pulled off by his firm, Aman Futures. He was arrested recently in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia and sentenced to two years in jail for possessing a fake Filipino passport.
Malaysia has said it is not inclined to deport Amalilio here before he completes his sentence.
Valte said Malacanang is leaving the effort to return Amalilio the Departments of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Interior and Local Government.
“As we said earlier, we would like to give our officials the space to keep working at getting back Mr. Amalilio to the country,” she said in an interview over state-owned Radyo ng Bayan.
National Bureau of Investigation agents who had gone to Kota Kinabalu last month were about to board a plane to the Philippines with Amalilio when Malaysian authorities stopped the scam suspect from leaving.
Malaysian attorney general Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said in a statement that Amalilio is really Malaysian citizen Mohammad Kamal Sa’ad.
But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has said he is a Filipino with a Philippine birth certificate, passport and NBI clearance.
Patail has also said the DOJ has asked Malaysia to freeze Amalilio’s assets.
The Malaysian newspaper The Star has also reported that the Philippines has formally sought Amalilio’s return, invoking the ASEAN Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Treaty.
source: interaksyon.com
