Court clears businessman of money laundering raps

A businessman has been cleared of involvement in an alleged attempt to smuggle out bagfuls of cash worth P10 million from the country to Hong Kong last May. In a decision dated November 25, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 231 dismissed money laundering charges filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) against businessman Ansari Tago on grounds of illegality of arrest. Tago was arrested by the police last May 28 after he was reportedly caught carrying P10 million cash packed in two bags he was allegedly supposed to bring with him on a flight to Hong Kong. The local court decided to dismiss the charges after the prosecution proved that airport police did not have a warrant of arrest against Tago. The court also found out that Tago was just in a coffee shop and not even in the act of boarding a plane when he was arrested. “The court could not fathom as to why the police officers, who were not armed with a search warrant or a warrant of arrest, [would] approach the accused who was merely sitting at the coffee shop and introduce themselves as police officers and require the accused to open his bag," the court said in its ruling. The court likewise said that bagfuls of cash obtained by the police from Tago will be “inadmissible in evidence against him" since the money was seized during the illegal arrest. In the same ruling, the Pasay court also said that the PNP had no right to file a case against Tago, since it is the Central Bank who handles similar cases. “There were no avert acts that constitute the violation of Central Bank Circular No. 98 (on money laundering) as there are no tangible, concrete and overt acts committed by the accused," it said in the decision. The court likewise ordered airport police to return to Tago the amount seized from the illegal arrest.—JV, GMANews.TV