‘Nice development’ seen in Amalilio case

BUSAN – President Aquino and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak talked about the case of Manuel Amalilio – who was tagged in a multibillion-peso scam that victimized thousands of investors – during their bilateral meeting here last Thursday.

Aquino declined to divulge details about the meeting to avoid preempting what he described as “a nice development.”

Amalilio is facing syndicated estafa charges for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme through his company, Aman Futures Group, which duped around 15,000 Filipinos. 

He fled to Sabah in 2012 but was nabbed in Kota Kinabalu in 2013 for possessing a fake Philippine passport and ID.

Amalilio, who carries the Malaysian name Mohammad Suffan Saaid, was slapped with a two-year jail term in Malaysia.

A Kota Kinabalu court has ordered Amalilio’s release and has denied the government’s request to extradite him to the Philippines.

Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs has discontinued the extradition proceedings against the alleged mastermind of the P12-billion scam.

The justice department has vowed to find ways to appeal the court ruling and to have Amalilio extradited so he can face the charges in the Philippines.