Gordon vows arrest for ‘Rodriguez group’ if it snubs dirty money probe
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday threatened the arrest of members of the so-called “Rodriguez” group if they will fail to appear in the Senate’s investigation into the suspected smuggling of dirty money into the country.
Gordon, chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee which has mounted an investigation into crimes allegedly involving Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs), said he will ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to arrest the group if they fail to heed the subpoena.
“Wala pa akong assurance (kung aattend sila). Basta may subpoena, ‘pag hindi sila (umattend) papahuli ko sila sa NBI, may address sila (I have no assurance. But we issued a subpoena if they don’t attend I will ask the NBI to arrest then. We have their address),” the senator told reporters.
“Pumunta kayo rito para malaman ko kung sino kayo (Come here, so that we know who you really are),” he further said.
Gordon’s committee earlier issued a subpoena to seven individuals who are part of the “Rodriguez” group, believed to be one of the two alleged syndicates that allegedly brought into the Philippines about P18.7 billion in alleged laundered cash.
Earlier, Gordon bared that a supposed emissary attempted to bribe him with P20 million to exclude the group from appearing in the hearing.
