Manila team to negotiate Amalilio's extradition

The Philippine government will send a team of officials to Kuala Lumpur to negotiate the extradition of Manuel Amalilio, a relative of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima has approved the travel order for the team of prosecutors and state counsel.

“The team will leave mid-March since the Malaysian attorney-general is not available until then to receive them (the team),” De Lima was quoted as saying today.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, Justice Under-secretary Jose Vicente Salazar and other prosecutors and legal counsels are covered by the travel order.

While Manila has claimed that Amalilio (left) is a citizen of the Philippines, investigations by Malaysian police revealed that he is a Malaysian but had obtained a Philippine passport without lawful authority.

Amalilio, also known as Mohammad Kamal Sa'aid, pleaded guilty to holding an illegal Philippine passport and was sentenced to two years' jail. 

Amalilio fled to Sabah when wanted by the Philippine police for allegedly cheating over 15,000 people of 12 billion pesos (RM895 million) through his company Aman Futures Group in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Manila had earlier claimed that Musa had blocked Amalilio’s repatriation on Jan 24, just 10 minutes before he was to board a plane to Manila with agents from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation.

Musa (right) denied the allegationbut admitted that Amalilio is a “distant relative”.

Sabah police chief Hamza Taib later clarified that he had ordered the intervention because the deportation procedures had not complied with the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 2002.

PKR parliamentarians, who have conducted a fact-finding mission to the Philippines, said they suspect that Malaysia had conveniently jailed Amalilio to prevent his deportation.

They called for an investigation to be carried into Amalilio's wealth, and his connections to politicians and officials in Malaysia.

Abdul Gani has directed the Malaysian authorities to “check and freeze” all financial records and assets of Amalilio.