NBI: Mayor in Aman Futures scam still in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Fugitive Pagadian, Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Samuel Co is still in the country, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday as it denied rumors that its agents arrested him in Pasay City last Tuesday.

Virgilio Mendez, NBI deputy director for regional operation services, told The STAR that a team sent to track down Co in Pasay failed to find him.

“But there is an ongoing and continuous efforts by NBI operatives based in Mindanao to find him and anytime, anywhere he can be brought to justice,” he said.

Co disappeared after Iligan City Regional Trial Court Branch 1 Judge Alberto Quinto issued a warrant for his arrest last week for his alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso investment scam of Aman Futures Group Phils. Inc. Pagadian Vice Mayor Romeo Pulmones has taken over as acting mayor.

Mendez said Co, who was charged with syndicated estafa, had earlier assured the NBI that he will face the charges against him.

“We are sure that he is still in the country and it will just be a matter of time,” he said, adding that the mayor cannot leave the country through the back door since the Bureau of Immigration is on the lookout for him.

Co’s staff told NBI agents who served the warrant that he was in Manila on official travel. Mendez said Co must have been tipped off by “somebody at the court” because he learned of the warrant as soon as it came out. It took four hours for the NBI to travel from Iligan to Pagadian to serve the warrant. – Rey Galupo, Antonio Rimando