Press Release
March 1, 2008

US SHOULD BE ASKED TO EXTRADITE BAGMAN OF "GANG OF FOUR"

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Nene" Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today asked the Senate to formally request the United States to extradite a member of a four-man group that brokered and negotiated the grossly overpriced $329 million national broadband network (NBN) project that was awarded to China's ZTE Corp.

Pimentel made the suggestion on the basis of the revelation by surprise witness Dante Madriaga, a former technical consultant for the botched telecommunications project, that Ruben Reyes, the alleged treasurer or bagman of the group, had fled to the US last October after the Senate started its inquiry into the NBN scandal.

"I think we can invoke our extradition treaty with the US for those people who are seeking haven from our investigation in the US," Pimentel said.

In his testimony before the Blue Ribbon Committee, together with the Defense Committee and Trade and Commerce Committee, Madriaga disclosed that the ZTE Corp. had made a total of $41 million advanced payments to the group, which he dubbed the "gang of four," in three installments, which were allegedly received by Reyes.

Madriaga said the $1 million fee for representation expenses was received by the group in August, 2006, followed by a "success fee" of $10 million in March, 2007. He said the group, with Reyes as recipient, was given another $30 million in April, 2007 following the signing of the supply contract between ZTE and the Philippine government in Boao, Fujian, China which was personally witnessed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

According to Madriaga, the $30 million was supposed to be spent for the campaign expenses of administration candidates in the May, 2007 elections but was instead deposited in a Hong Kong bank and later transferred in a bank in Cayman islands.

Pimentel said the Blue Ribbon Committee, chaired by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, should lose no time in initiating the extradition request which will be coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Justice.

"I would suggest very strongly to the committee to start the process so that we can invoke that extradition treaty because I know that the Americans are very, very strict regarding those engaged in money laundering and corruption," he said.

Aside from Reyes, the other members of the brokers' group were identified by Madriaga as former Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos, retired Police Gen. Quirino "Torch" de la Torre, and businessman Leo San Miguel.

Reyes is known as a golf partner of Abalos with wide contacts in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. De la Torre served as security adviser of Abalos. San Miguel was former owner of Home Cable who hired Madriaga for the preparation and design of the NBN-ZTE project.

Madriaga also mentioned a certain Jimmy Paz who represented Abalos in the group's meetings whenever the Comelec chief was busy with other appointments.

Abalos is now in the US supposedly as part of a prize he won in golf tournament.

Upon Pimentel's request, the Blue Ribbon Committee had also issued a subpoena to Yu Yong and Fan Yang, president and vice president for finance respectively, of ZTE Corp. Fan Yang was erroneously identified in previous reports as a commercial attach?of the Chinese embassy in Manila.

Stressing the importance of the testimonies of Yu Yong and Fan Yang, Pimentel said the senators want to verify from them Madriaga's claim he had worked with them as technical consultant. He also pointed out that Fan Yang was pinpointed by Madriaga as the main source of information that a $41 million cash advance had already been paid by the ZTE the Reyes-Abalos group.

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