MANUEL AMALILIO Contributed photo
PETALING JAYA, Malaysia—Malaysia is not planning to extradite a man wanted in the Philippines for duping 15,000 people in a P12-billion investment scam despite a request from Manila.
Malaysia’s Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said Kuala Lumpur would not extradite Manuel Karingal Amalilio as he was a Malaysian citizen holding a valid and active identification card.
The Kota Kinabalu magistrate’s court has sentenced Amalilio, known in Malaysia as Mohammad Kamal Sa’ad, to two years’ jail after being arrested on January 25 at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport with a fake Philippines passport.
Amalilio, 47, is the owner of Aman Futures Group, a fraudulent investment company that swindled 15,000 investors who lost a total of P12 billion in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Abdul Gani said in a statement that the Philippine Embassy had requested for Amalilio’s extradition but maintained that Amalilio was a Malaysian citizen and would not be handed over to Philippine authorities.
The Philippines’ Justice Undersecretary Jose Vincent B. Salazar had also requested that Malaysia freeze Amalilio’s assets, savings and investments and those owned by people related to him.
However, the Attorney-General said, the relevant authorities had been directed to check and freeze all financial records and assets belonging to Amalilio and his associates.
The AG-Chambers has also received a formal request from the Philippines’ Department of Justice under the Asean Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, to hand Amalilio over to authorities in the Philippines.
Abdul Gani said that this request was being handled by the International Affairs Division of the A-G’s Chambers.
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima has insisted that Amalilio was a Filipino citizen and that he has a Philippine-issued birth certificate, passport and even National Bureau of Investigation clearance.
Amalilio is alleged to have operated a company called Aman Futures Group in the Philippines. He claimed to be a nephew of Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman, while luring thousands of Filipino investors into his investment scheme offering 67 percent in returns.
He fled the Philippines for Sabah last November immediately after President Benigno Aquino ordered his arrest as over 15,000 investors were cheated of around P12 billion under the scam.
Amalilio’s deportation was agreed by Philippine and Malaysian officials but on January 26 while he was about to board a Manila-bound plane with NBI agents, Malaysian authorities blocked his deportation. With INQUIRER.net in Manila