(UPDATE) MANILA, Philippines — The red notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) against fugitive former lawmaker Zaldy Co is “expected to be out this week or next week,” Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said on Tuesday.
“[For] Zaldy Co, we’ve already applied for a red notice. I think we should get the red notice anytime this week or next week,” Remulla told Super Radyo dzBB in an interview.
According to Interpol, a red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Remulla said Co was hiding in Portugal, residing in a gated community in Lisbon and has long held a Portuguese passport.
Meanwhile, a prosecution witness said that Co received P802 million from Sunwest Construction and Development Corp.,which the former lawmaker himself founded.
Co, who is at large, was said to have divested from Sunwest in 2019.
At the continuation of the trial on Tuesday on the malversation through falsification case filed against Co and several other people, the prosecution presented John Mark Busa, a financial investigator of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), as witness.
The trial involved nine of Co's co-accused in the case, which the Office of the Ombudsman filed last November in connection with a road dike construction project in Oriental Mindoro.
Busa is the prosecution's last witness.
The accused wants to file a demurrer to evidence which would seek a dismissal of the case based on the prosecution's evidence.
The court tentatively scheduled the start of the initial presentation of defense evidence on June 2.
