Swiss and HK officials, Mark Jimenez to testify vs. Nani Perez
MANILA, Philippines — Swiss and Hong Kong officials plus former Manila Rep. Mark Jimenez are among the witnesses who will be testifying in the case of falsification of public documents against former Justice Secretary Hernando "Nani" Perez, court records show.
Listed in the prosecution line-up of witnesses were Wayne Patrick Walsh, chief of the Mutual Legal Assistance Unit of Hong Kong’s Department of Justice; Wendy Lee Wing Tak, manager of Coutts Bank’s Regulatory Risk; Lise Favre of the Embassy of Switzerland; Swiss Federal attorney Coquiz Christian; and Vladimir Stemberger, vice president and legal counsel for EFG Private Bank in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The officials were mentioned in a pre-trial brief submitted last week to the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division in Manila.
State prosecutors have listed nearly 100 pieces of documents, including bank records and communications between graft investigators and Swiss banking authorities, which they hope would show the paper trail of $1.7 million that Perez supposedly received but did not declare in his 2001 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Perez, who was then justice secretary, was supposed to have taken the $1.7 million amount as his share in the $2 million that he allegedly extorted from Jimenez in 2001.
Prosecutors hope to establish how the $2 million was transferred through various bank accounts in the name of Perez’s wife Rosario, his brother-in-law Ramon Arceo and businessman-friend Ernest Escaler.
The case stemmed from Jimenez’s claim that Perez demanded $2 million from him so that he would not force Jimenez to execute damaging affidavits against certain individuals in the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.
The alleged extortion happened just after Perez became justice secretary when then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president following the ouster of then President Joseph Estrada by a military-backed civilian uprising in January 2001.
Perez has denied the extortion charge but among the evidence obtained by the prosecution is a confirmation of credit in the amount of $1,995,965 remitted from the Trade and Commerce Bank of Cayman Islands followed by a deposit record on February 26, 2001 for the sum of $1,999,965 in relation to account number H013706 in the name of Escaler.
Another document shows that there was a withdrawal slip from the same account for $1 million on March 5, 2001, or slightly just a month after Perez became justice secretary.
Documents showing smaller withdrawals from April to May of 2001 are also in the prosecution's list of evidence.
Still another document was a single-page customer instruction letter dated March 5, 2001 transferring $1 million to EFG Private Bank in Zurich, followed by a $700,000 deposit on May 22, 2001.
The falsification case is separate from the graft and extortion charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2007 against the Perez couple, Arceo, and Escaler.
Perez, who was Arroyo's most prominent Cabinet official, was forced to resign his post as a result of Jimenez' allegations. - GMANews.TV
Listed in the prosecution line-up of witnesses were Wayne Patrick Walsh, chief of the Mutual Legal Assistance Unit of Hong Kong’s Department of Justice; Wendy Lee Wing Tak, manager of Coutts Bank’s Regulatory Risk; Lise Favre of the Embassy of Switzerland; Swiss Federal attorney Coquiz Christian; and Vladimir Stemberger, vice president and legal counsel for EFG Private Bank in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The officials were mentioned in a pre-trial brief submitted last week to the Sandiganbayan’s Third Division in Manila.
State prosecutors have listed nearly 100 pieces of documents, including bank records and communications between graft investigators and Swiss banking authorities, which they hope would show the paper trail of $1.7 million that Perez supposedly received but did not declare in his 2001 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Perez, who was then justice secretary, was supposed to have taken the $1.7 million amount as his share in the $2 million that he allegedly extorted from Jimenez in 2001.
Prosecutors hope to establish how the $2 million was transferred through various bank accounts in the name of Perez’s wife Rosario, his brother-in-law Ramon Arceo and businessman-friend Ernest Escaler.
The case stemmed from Jimenez’s claim that Perez demanded $2 million from him so that he would not force Jimenez to execute damaging affidavits against certain individuals in the administration of former President Joseph Estrada.
The alleged extortion happened just after Perez became justice secretary when then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president following the ouster of then President Joseph Estrada by a military-backed civilian uprising in January 2001.
Perez has denied the extortion charge but among the evidence obtained by the prosecution is a confirmation of credit in the amount of $1,995,965 remitted from the Trade and Commerce Bank of Cayman Islands followed by a deposit record on February 26, 2001 for the sum of $1,999,965 in relation to account number H013706 in the name of Escaler.
Another document shows that there was a withdrawal slip from the same account for $1 million on March 5, 2001, or slightly just a month after Perez became justice secretary.
Documents showing smaller withdrawals from April to May of 2001 are also in the prosecution's list of evidence.
Still another document was a single-page customer instruction letter dated March 5, 2001 transferring $1 million to EFG Private Bank in Zurich, followed by a $700,000 deposit on May 22, 2001.
The falsification case is separate from the graft and extortion charges filed by the Office of the Ombudsman in 2007 against the Perez couple, Arceo, and Escaler.
Perez, who was Arroyo's most prominent Cabinet official, was forced to resign his post as a result of Jimenez' allegations. - GMANews.TV
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