DOJ considers mayor a scam victim, for now

MANILA, Philippines - Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co is being considered a victim in the P12-billion investment scam of Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc. for now, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Speaking to reporters, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela said Co remains a complainant despite the testimony of two witnesses linking him to the pyramiding scam.

“Mayor Co is one of the complainants in the complaints we received from Pagadian, so we consider him as a victim,” she said.

However, a special panel of prosecutors conducting preliminary investigation on complaints against Aman said they have not yet received the affidavits of Fire Officer Fabian Tapayan Jr. and Ma. Donna Coyme, who have implicated Co in the Ponzi scheme.

Tapayan had accused Co of receiving investments from victims, while Coyme had alleged that Co had distributed checks to some investors of Aman.

Tapayan and Coyme had submitted their affidavits to the National Bureau of Investigation.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the DOJ was looking into the reported participation of some local officials in the pyramiding scam as President Aquino wanted to know if public funds were involved.

“This is why Secretary Mar Roxas (of the Department of the Interior and Local Government) is helping us,” she said. “They’re focusing on that aspect of the investigation.”

Despite the affidavits of Tapayan and Coyme, it was too early to make a conclusion on the issue, De Lima said.

The DOJ will still determine whether local officials involved were really investors or accomplices of Aman.

The panel of prosecutors is set to hold the first hearing on the preliminary investigation on six initial complaints for syndicated estafa against Manuel Amalilio tomorrow.

Last Wednesday, the DOJ summoned 38 initial respondents. Those with addresses in Metro Manila were required to attend the hearing at the DOJ multipurpose hall at 2 p.m.