(Photo source: PSSSTCentro)
"The reports of the incarceration of Manuel Amalilio in Malaysia is disturbing. It is our stand that in order to render full justice to Mayor Co and all the other victims of the Aman Futures scam, Amalilio must stand trial here in the Philippines as soon as possible," said Co's legal counsel Trixie Cruz-Angeles in a statement Wednesday.
Amalilio was supposed to be brought back to the Philippines from Kota Kinabalu to face syndicated estafa charges hurled against him and other officials of Aman Futures Group for allegedly divesting P12 billion from some 15,000 investors. He was prevented by Malaysian authorities from leaving after they found out that he was also facing similar cases in the country.
On Tuesday, a Malaysian court sentenced Amalilio to two-year imprisonment for possession of fake passport and ID.
"Grossly misinformed"
In the statement, Angeles welcomed the supposed decision of several complainants to withdraw syndicated estafa charges against Co.
"These complainants were grossly misinformed by a radio program in September that filing a case against the incumbent mayor would result in a recovery of their money," she said.
"We are confident that the remaining cases shall soon be dismissed, as it is evident that the mayor is being made a fall guy in this scam," she added.
Angeles refused to comment on fresh charges supposedly filed against her client, saying she has yet to receive copies of the complaints.
Victim or suspect?
Co himself had filed syndicated estafa charges against Amalilio after admitting he invested P3,266,700 in Aman Futures under the account name Bo's Coffee on September 11 with interest of 58 percent after 17 days.
Co made another investment the following day under the account name Max's Chicken with an amount of P3,205,500 with a 60-percent interest after 17 days.
Co said in October, he was issued two checks amounting P5 million each. He tried to encash the checks in Makati City on October 5 but the checks were "dishonored and returned" for insufficient funds.
In November last year, two separate cases of syndicated estafa were lodged against Co, one of them filed by 22 Pagadian City-based businessmen.
The complainants accused Co of issuing business permits to Aman Futures Group Philippines Corp. owned by Amalilio, and Fretz and Sha Trading owned by Aman Futures operator Fernando Luna.
In its recommendation, the National Bureau of Investigation said Co issued a temporary permit to Aman Futures on July 27, 2012 even if the firm "lacked the necessary Secondary License for it to undertake services (online marketing), and not the business of soliciting funds from the public for investments for commodities futures trading.”
The NBI said Co enticed potential investors by claiming he has connections with government officials like Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas.
In his defense, Co said he tried but failed to stop the controversial firm due to an "overwhelming patronage of the general public." He said he even formed a team last June to inspect the operations of Aman Futures, and that the team found out that the firm operated under a local business permit to engage in a general merchandise business.
Co also said he could not immediately order a stoppage of Aman Futures operations because the firm operated privately at a rented residential house and that no actual exchange of money happened since transactions were made through bank deposits
To know more about Trixie Cruz Angeles, check out: I AM TRIXIE CRUZ
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