A former Philippine lawmaker accused of masterminding a vast public works corruption scheme allegedly tried to move part of his fortune out of reach of investigators by flying his private aircraft abroad.
A Gulfstream jet and two helicopters linked to disgraced congressman Elizaldy “Zaldy” Co were sent to Singapore and Malaysia in recent months, just as authorities were preparing to freeze billions of pesos in suspected ill-gotten assets.
Philippine aviation regulators say the aircraft cannot now be sold or re-registered overseas under international aviation law, even though they left the country before formal proceedings began.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed in a statement issued on Thursday “that three registered air assets connected to Mr. Co have departed from the country”.
“We are coordinating with the civil aviation authorities of the countries that these aircraft flew to and we are asking them to help monitor because that is all we can do for now,” CAAP Director General Raul del Rosario said at a press conference as quoted by GMA News.
