The Philippine Court of Appeals Thursday ordered to freeze 70 accounts under former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante and a couple of others implicated in a fertilizer fund scam that involved 728 million pesos (16.18 million U.S. dollars).
According to local media reports, the Manila court directed more than 20 banks and institutions "to desist from and not to allow any transaction, withdrawal, deposit, transfer, removal, conversion, other movement or concealment" of the accounts.
Bolante, the former agriculture official believed to have close ties with the First Family, was accused of channeling the government's fertilizer funds to finance the campaign of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election.
He left the country at the height of the Senate's probe but was arrested in Los Angeles in July 2006 on the grounds that he was holding a revoked U.S. visa.
His application for asylum afterwards was also denied.
On Thursday, the court issued the freeze order based on a petition filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council after the agency suspected these bank accounts could possibly be the channels where the fertilizer fund had been transferred.
The freeze order, with a 20-day life span, takes effect upon receipt of the resolution by the parties concerned, local reports said. A hearing has been set on July 8 to decide whether the freeze order should be extended.
Source:Xinhua
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