Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft. PHOTO FROM SOUTHERN POLICE DISTRICT
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) has started efforts to trace the source of money for the killing of broadcaster Percy Lapid.
Southern Police District (SPD) chief Brig. Gen. Kirby John Kraft disclosed this development on Friday, further revealing that they already communicated with the bank of confessed gunman Joel Escorial and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to help them find out who deposited the alleged payment for the hit.
According to Kraft, Escorial already authorized his bank to provide any available information from his account to the police.
Escorial earlier claimed that a total of P550,000 was distributed among members of his group that was allegedly tasked to assassinate Lapid. He said they were six in the group and that around P140,000 has since been deposited into his bank account.
READ: Percy Lapid slay case: Gunman says ‘someone from Bilibid’ gave kill order
Kraft said the death of one of two purported middlemen in the murder of Lapid – Crisanto Villamor – will not lead to a dead end because the PNP still has other means to go after the mastermind.
“Na-confirm naman natin ito na talagang may pumasok na P550,000 so gumawa na tayo ng kaukulang komunikasyon po sa naturang bangko at pati na rin sa AMLC nang matulungan tayo ma-determine kung sino man iyong nagdeposito,” he said in an interview with radio station dzBB of GMA Network.
(We have confirmed that P550,000 was wired to his account, so we initiated communication with the bank and the AMLC to help determine who deposited the money.)
Asked how the supposed hit payment was distributed among suspects, Kraft said: “May binigyan po siya (Escorial) na P80,000. May binigyan siya ng P40,000. At may binigyan po siya ng P20,000 (He gave someone P80,000. He gave another one P40,000. And he gave someone else P20,000.)”
Meanwhile, the SPD chief said they are still searching for the remaining suspects – Israel and Edmon Dimaculangan and a certain Orly or Orlando – whom Escorial claimed were his accomplices in the crime.
READ: Confessed gunman in Percy Lapid killing surrenders, tags 3 other suspects
He said police have been receiving reports about them supposedly being sighted outside of Metro Manila. He also noted that a check on Escorial’s background shows he has no criminal record.
“Sa ngayon po, malinis po siya. Wala po siyang, masasabi po nating, pending na kaso or warrant of arrest (Right now, he’s clean. He doesn’t have, what I would say, pending cases or a warrant of arrest,” Kraft noted.
Tracing the source of money deposited to Escorial’s bank account was among the pleas made by journalist Roy Mabasa to the police in hopes of finding the mastermind in the ambush-slay of his brother.
READ: Percy Lapid case: Police urged to protect ‘middleman in prison’, trace money source for hit
Lapid, whose real name was Percy Mabasa, was gunned down last October 3 at a gate of the Las Piñas City subdivision where he lived.
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