After completing their preliminary investigation , prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman have found\u00a0 businessman Jaime Dichaves liable in a plunder case and have asked the Sandiganbayan Special Division to order his arrest.<\/p>\n

In seeking Dischaves\u2019 arrest, the Ombudsman\u2019s Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) said the possibility of the businessman\u2019s\u00a0 flight was \u201cmore probable\u201d now that he was charged with a nonbailable offense.<\/p>\n

The prosecutors said the evidence showed that Dichaves had conspired with former President Joseph Estrada to amass ill-gotten profits from the sale of Belle Corp. shares to the government. The money was deposited in Estrada\u2019s \u201cJose Velarde\u201d bank account.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt cannot be gainsaid that Dichaves appears to have conspired with the former president to enable the latter to, among other things, amass wealth out of the profit and commissions from the sale of Belle shares to the government. Their concerted action indicates a common design and concurrence of sentiments to amass that amount of wealth,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Estrada had been convicted of the offense but was subsequently pardoned by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo while Dichaves has yet to undergo a trial since he left the country after Estrada was impeached.<\/p>\n

The OSP said the businessman was able to\u00a0 escape the law by seeking refuge abroad.\u00a0 Dichaves did not return to the country until after Estrada was pardoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing an accused now for this nonbailable crime, it is certain that he would escape the long arm of the law again,\u201d the OSP said.<\/p>\n

Warrant recalled<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier, upon Dichaves\u2019 motion, the antigraft court\u2019s Special Division recalled his arrest warrant and directed the Office of the Ombudsman to complete its preliminary investigation.\u00a0 Dichaves also has a pending motion before the court to be allowed to leave the country for business purposes.<\/p>\n

The court had earlier allowed him to travel to Hong Kong and China on business, although he was not able to leave on the scheduled departure date because of a problem with the case number cited in the order given to the Bureau of Immigration.<\/p>\n

In finding him liable for plunder, the OSP said Dichaves orchestrated the consummation of the Belle Corp. shares transaction and had received a check representing his commission that he then deposited in the Velarde account.<\/p>\n

Dichaves has denied giving Estrada a P189.7-million commission from the sale of the shares and said that the amount was Willy Ng Ocier\u2019s contribution to a common fund, a collective investment of Filipino-Chinese businessmen that he managed.<\/p>\n

Fear for safety<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Dichaves, he opened the \u201cJose Velarde\u201d account on behalf of the common fund investors, and used the Velarde name as an alias out of fear for his security and safety.<\/p>\n

He also cited the Jan. 10, 2012,\u00a0 affidavit of Ocier that was submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, where Ocier stated that Dichaves had nothing to do with the purchase of the Belle shares, and that the P189.7 million he gave Dichaves was his personal investment in the common fund.<\/p>\n

But the Ombudsman panel countered that an earlier Ocier affidavit in 2001, which was adopted as part of his testimony in court, showed that Dichaves participated in acquiring the Belle shares. It said that Dichaves had also conveyed to Ocier Estrada\u2019s instructions that the government\u2019s purchase of the shares would only push through if Ocier would agree to give him the commission from it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After completing their preliminary investigation , prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman have found businessman Jaime Dichaves liable in a plunder case and have asked the Sandiganbayan Special Division to order his arrest. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,45],"tags":[8824,91,767],"byline":[68],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n