Sandiganbayan won’t allow Iranian to leave country

Sandiganbayan (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO)

MANILA — The Sandiganbayan has refused to allow Iranian investor Foad Akhavan to leave the country for medical checkup and treatment for his heart ailment.

In a three-page resolution, the court’s Sixth Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Akhavan on its Nov. 29 resolution that considered him a flight risk.

It said the Iranian failed to raise any new issue to warrant the reversal of its previous ruling that considered his nationality a factor that made it “highly probable” for him to evade Philippine jurisdiction.

The court did not see the need to allow Akhavan to leave, saying he failed to show that the necessary medical procedure could not be done in the Philippines. It even noted that his discharge from the hospital a day after undergoing coronary angioplasty cast doubt on his claim of deteriorating health.

The resolution also noted that the Sandiganbayan Third Division, which originally handled Akhavan’s graft and malversation case, denied on February 2016 an earlier attempt to secure travel permission. That denial was later upheld by Supreme Court.

Akhavan is a co-accused in the graft and malversation case against former Misamis Occidental Governor Loreto Leo Ocampos.

They were implicated in the alleged conspiracy to award Akhavan the five-year build-operate-transfer contract for the Misamis Occidental Aquamarine Park in 2005. The deal took place despite the Iranian’s company’s alleged lack of eligibility to operate the marine park.

Ocampos was also accused of failing to collect the government’s 30-percent share of the net income as required by the profit-sharing agreement. MOAP employees were also allegedly paid from government coffers to the tune of P559,925.  SFM