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Iligan court orders arrest of Pagadian's Samuel Co


(Updated 4:41 p.m.) A Lanao del Norte trial court has ordered the arrest of Pagadian Mayor Samuel Co in connection with a large-scale investment scam that victimized 15,000 investors in Mindanao and Visayas last year.
 
NBI Deputy Director Virgilio Mendez, head of the NBI Regional Operations Services, confirmed that the Iligan Regional Trial Court Branch 1 has issued an arrest warrant against Co on Thursday.
 
Mendez said the NBI tried serving the arrest warrant on Thursday and Friday but Co was not found in the address indicated in the arrest warrant.
 
"Kahapon po [April 11] na-issue ang warrant of arrest. NBI Iligan and Pagadian with the Philippine National Police served the warrant pero negative po. Hindi na nakita ang subject," Mendez told GMA News Online Friday.
 
But one of Co's lawyers, Trixi Angeles, said her client has not left the city and has in fact, contested the arrest warrant against him. 

Angeles said Co, through another counsel, Angel Gatmaitan, has filed a motion seeking to recall the arrest warrant issued last Thursday.
 
Angeles lamented how the Iligan court denied the Co camp's motion for the determination of probable cause, which contested the syndicated estafa charges earlier filed by several investor-complainants.
 
"Mayor Co is still in Pagadian... [and] we were asking the court for the quashal or recall of the arrest warrant pending the resolution on the MR," said Angeles.
 
"The warrant is now being contested and has not yet become final," she told GMA News Online in a text message.

DOJ recommendation
 
Last March, the Department of Justice recommended syndicated estafa charges against Co and 11 others for their alleged involvement in the scam traced to Aman Futures Group Philippine Inc.
 
Based on its preliminary investigation, the DOJ special panel junked Co's defense that he merely helped Aman Futures in distributing checks to investors and was not a member of the doomed investment firm, which duped a total of 15,000 victims in Visayas and Mindanao.
 
"His denial cannot overcome the positive assertions of the complainants," the DOJ panel said, referring to a group of complainants led by Julius Labunog.
 
Aside from Co, also charged were Aman Futures founder Manuel Amalilio, who is serving a two-year jail sentence in Malaysia for possession of fake passports and IDs, as well as other Aman Futures executives who were found liable for engaging in futures trading even without the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
Syndicated estafa is a non-bailable offense.
 
The DOJ cited Co's co-accused's sworn statement in which Leila Gan claimed issuing a certification on Aug. 25, 2012 that Co was an "authorized agent" of the investment firm.
 
In his defense, Co earlier said he and his wife were also victims of Aman Futures as they invested P3,266,700 in the firm under the account name Bo's Coffee with an interest of 58-percent after 17 days. He made another investment under the account name Max's Chicken with an amount of P3,205,500 with a 60-percent interest after 17 days.
 
Co had said he tried stopping Aman Futures from operating but failed to get an authority from the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Pagadian City because its members "were themselves politicians... and no one complained against the operation of Aman."
 
In June 2012, Co had ordered the cancellation of Aman Futures' business permit after finding out that the firm was into futures trading but was registered as a general merchandise business. — RSJ, GMA News
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