Russians clear ex-PNP exec, wife

MANILA, Philippines – A week after being detained and questioned by Moscow airport authorities for carrying cash over the allowable limit, retired police Director Eliseo de la Paz and his wife were allowed to go home and subsequently cleared of any violation of immigration rules by the Russian government.

Western Mindanao police chief Director Jaime Caringal, who stayed in Moscow to help De la Paz, said the Russian authorities also extended their visas to authorize their extended stay while being questioned over the excess cash.

“We are on our way home after we were granted new visas,” Caringal told The STAR.

Caringal said they expect to be back in Manila either tomorrow or Tuesday.

De la Paz and his wife were held for questioning for carrying more than the allowable $10,000 cash as they were about to board their plane at the Moscow International Airport last Oct. 11.

The couple was allegedly carrying 105,000 euros or P6.9 million, which the leadership of the Philippine National Police (PNP) claimed was the contingency fund of the Philippine delegation to the 77th Interpol General Convention held in St. Petersburg.

The PNP said De la Paz was in possession of the fund since he was designated as the delegation’s disbursing officer.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said De la Paz, being the disbursing officer, is required to liquidate the group’s expenditures using the contingency fund.

“He is required to return the contingency fund upon return after submitting a liquidation report,” Bartolome said.

Caringal, on the other hand, said De la Paz would issue a statement upon his return and subject himself to any official investigation about the Moscow snafu.

For the time being, Caringal said their group would be spending a day in an Asian country before heading home.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa had already ordered a probe of the Moscow incident, designating PNP chief of Directorial Staff Director Geary Barias to spearhead the investigation.

But the probe will have to wait until next month as Barias is in Germany.

Verzosa stressed that even Russian customs, described as among the hardest law enforcement agency to deal with in the world, cleared De la Paz and his wife of any liability after they submitted documents authorizing their possession of the money found in his possession.

Aside from the eight senior police officers sent to attend the conference, representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) were also part of the Philippine Interpol contingent headed by retired police Chief Superintendent Rolando Garcia, chief of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime (PCTC).

The wives of several of the officers also went with the delegation as invited guests to attend Interpol’s women functions.

Cynthia Verzosa, wife of the PNP chief, maintained there was nothing irregular about their Interpol trip, as others would like to paint it.

“We went there on our own following an official invitation from Interpol,” Mrs. Verzosa told reporters.