Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II yesterday said he will ask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to dig deeper into the bank accounts of certain individuals and corporations linked to illegal drugs trade.
“Mas magaling ang NBI diyan kaysa sa amin (The NBI is better than us) and we have no people to pursue these leads,” he told reporters yesterday.
Aguirre bared that the Department of Justice (DoJ) received from the NBI a copy of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report on the probe conducted on the bank accounts of Senator Leila de Lima and those linked to her.
It can be recalled that President Rodrigo Duterte named De Lima in the matrix linking her to the illegal drug activities at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
“Makita ang link na iyan kung makita ang isang corporation. Kung makita ang stockholders lumabas ang pangalan na ito. Ito kaibigan ito ni ganito,”
Also, based on the AMLC report, Aguirre said that they will also investigate more than 10 persons associated with De Lima who were all found to have suspicious transactions.
In the meantime, Aguirre declined to reveal the contents of the AMLC report.
“I’m not at liberty to say something about that kasi confidential iyon,” the Secretary explained. “Under the AMLC iyon, binigay sa amin para palalimin pa ’yung aming hukay ng evidence sa usapin na ito. Ma-reveal na lang ito kung may file na kami na kaso,” he assured.
Even without the AMLC report, Aguirre expressed confidence that he has enough evidence to file a case against De Lima.
“Pero tulad ng sabi ko hindi ako comfortable doon, gusto ko talaga air tight,” he stressed.
Aguirre noted that he also gave AMLC more bank accounts to look into. “Kinakailangan makuha ko iyung magandang-maganda na report ng AMLC and madami pa kami. First wave pa kami,” he noted.
“Madami pa kami bank account numbers na binigay sa amin at iyun nga sabi ko bumabaha ang info nadating sa amin,” he added. (Jeffrey G. Damicog)