NBI agents milking Saudi nationals?
FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has created a panel to probe the allegations of the Saudi Embassy in Manila that some agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were extorting money from Saudi nationals.
Under Department Order No. 729 issued last week, De Lima created a special fact-finding committee headed by Justice Assistant Secretary Zabedin Azis to look into the complaint.
“In the interest of the service and pursuant to the provisions of existing laws, a special fact-finding committee, composed of representatives from the DOJ, NBI and National Prosecution Service, is hereby created to conduct an inquiry into the serious allegations set forth in the letters of the Royal Embassy of Saudi in Manila,” the justice secretary said.
The accusations were made in letters sent by the embassy to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Department of Tourism which forwarded the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Aside from supposed NBI agents, a woman named “Arlene” or “Darlene” was also tagged in the extortion racket in which Saudi nationals were arrested and detained for committing an alleged offense but eventually released in exchange for money.
Article continues after this advertisementThe victims identified in the letters were Majdi Abdulhamed Yaghmoor, Hassan Alharbi, Ahmad Al-Ghaneem and Farhan Alsolobi. The amounts extorted from them were P20,000 from Alharbi; P250,000 from Alsolobi and P300,000 from Yaghmoor and Al-Ghaneem.
Article continues after this advertisementThe embassy also complained about the harassment of its diplomats by “several NBI personnel while they were inside the NBI premises… to follow up the cases of apprehended Saudi nationals.”
In creating the committee, De Lima described the allegations as “serious” which “not only cast the NBI in a bad light, but likewise compromised the integrity of the legitimate operations against human traffickers, as well as our nation’s diplomatic relations with countries whose nationals may have been victimized by such alleged criminal syndicates.”
“Said committee is mandated to thoroughly investigate the serious allegations set forth in the letters in relation to the cases of Saudi nationals, as well as to validate and probe other similar incidents involving personnel of the NBI (regardless of the nationality of the purported victims of extortion), which may come [to] light in the course of the investigation, toward the end of gathering and evaluating relevant information,” she added.
De Lima also ordered the committee to “determine whether or not any administrative and/or criminal liability has been incurred by NBI personnel; identify those who may be found responsible therefor; [and] recommend appropriate courses of action to take, including the appropriate administrative and/or criminal charges to file, if any.”
It was given until Nov. 15 to submit a report on its findings and recommendations.
“[I]f warranted, [the committee may] take appropriate steps to initiate the necessary and appropriate and/or criminal proceedings against those who may be found to be liable,” De Lima said.
Tapped as vice chair of the panel was NBI Deputy Director Jose Doloiras. Its members were NBI Central Luzon Acting Director Jose Justo Yap, Assistant State Prosecutors Bryan Jacinto Cacha and Alejandro Daguiso, and State Counsel Adonis Sulit.
Last May, the Philippine government apologized to the Saudi Embassy after the NBI raided the residence of one of its attachés and arrested him and his wife on the suspicion that they were involved in illegal recruitment activities.
The couple were freed after the DFA certified that the attaché had diplomatic immunity.
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