Another €10,000 from Dela Paz remitted to PNP – report

MANILA, Philippines - Another €10,000 (roughly P613,000) from the money seized from retired police comptroller Eliseo de la Paz has been remitted to the Philippine National Police, bringing to 20,000 euros the total amount returned to the police organization. Radio dzBB’s Benjie Liwanag reported that the amount was returned by Alex Binetskiy, the lawyer hired by De la Paz in Russia after an undeclared €105,000 supposedly sourced from PNP funds were confiscated from him in October 2008. The second €10,000 euros remittance came after PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said De la Paz would face civil charges should he fail to return the full amount before Feb. 28. Verzosa on Tuesday said the PNP had already handed to De la Paz the demand letter informing of the deadline to return the €105,000. The PNP chief also said they were ready to bring the matter to the courts should De la Paz fail to comply with the deadline. Verzosa and De la Paz both belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1976. De la Paz was part of the eight-member PNP delegation to the 77th International Police Organization (Interpol) General Assembly held in Russia in October last year. De la Paz and his wife, Maria Fe, were held at the Moscow airport on Oct. 11, 2008, for carrying an undeclared amount of €105,000 euros supposedly in "cash advances." - Sophia Dedace, GMANews.TV