The chopper scam trial began Tuesday with a witness attesting that Mike Arroyo sold to the PNP two used aircraft as “brand new.” Helicopter distributor Archibald Po detailed to the Sandiganbayan how the then-first gentleman ordered from him five new units in Nov. 2003, only to sell two to the PNP in July 2009 still as “brand new.” Arroyo denies owning the helicopters, but documents were presented to buttress the testimony that he paid $1.5 million for them. The sale as “brand new” came about despite flight and maintenance logs showing the choppers to have flown hundreds of hours so parts were replaced. The PNP purchase of old choppers is undisputed, precisely due to the logs. The deal amounted to P105 million, including a third unit, a police patrol version, truly brand new. The pass-off of the two old units as “brand new” was overpriced by P34 million. Indicted aside from Arroyo are 19 PNP generals and colonels, including retired chief Jesus Versoza, who negotiated the deal. Eleven of them were in active duty but consequently dismissed when Po exposed it in 2011. Trial unfolded a year-and-a-half after Arroyo was arraigned in Jan. 2013. After Tuesday’s hearing Arroyo’s lawyer alleged to reporters that Po’s LionAir Corp. had evaded taxes. Po had registered the five choppers, on Arroyo’s say-so as real owner, in the name of Asian Spirit Airline, which at the time enjoyed tax holidays at the Clark Economic Zone. At a Senate inquiry in 2011 Arroyo gave a document dissembling the mere lease of the aircraft by his late brother Ignacio. The helicopters were identified by the corresponding serial numbers. The document was pooh-poohed as bogus, however. The “lease” date was prior to delivery of the five aircraft to the Philippines; meaning, they had yet to be received, reassembled, test-flown, and registered before being assigned the serial numbers. Too, the issuance date of the LionAir signatory-officer’s cedula incredibly was two weeks after the purported lease was notarized.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Jul 2014 01:35:48 +0000
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