Documents, cash recovered from Zaldy Co’s BGC condo

Documents and cash were recovered from the condominium unit of former Ako Bicol Party-List Representative Zaldy Co in Bonifacio Global City, an official said Friday.

“Somehow we will be able to cross-reference these documents to those we already have,” NBI spokesperson Palmer Mallari said in an interview with GMA reporter John Consulta.

“At the same time, pwe-pwede ikumpara doon sa mga statements earlier given by witnesses who came forward and offered testimonies. Para malaman natin at magagamit ba ito sa ating pag fa-file ng kaso,” he added.

(At the same time, we can compare these to statements earlier given by witnesses who came forward and offered their testimonies. So we can find out if these can be used in the filing of cases.)

This came after agents of the NBI-Organized and Transnational Criminal Division (OTCD) served search warrants at his unit on Thursday evening.

Malari deemed the operation a success and said that the NBI-OTCD collected what they believed was sufficient evidence.

“Now, because of that, we are ready to return the warrant and the inventory sheet to the issuing court for the court to be notified that there was an affirmative result of the operation. And from there, we would have to wait for the disposition of the court,” Mallari said.

The Sandiganbayan has declared Co as a “fugitive from justice” and ordered the cancellation of his passport amid malversation and graft charges over a P289 million substandard road dike project in Oriental Mindoro.

The NBI has asked the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a red notice against him. Mallari said the NBI has leads on his last location but declined to provide further details so as not to compromise their movement.

Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government has said that it is coordinating with Portugal as it is suspected that the former lawmaker has a Portuguese passport. —VAL, GMA Integrated News