SABALONES ASSETS FROZEN
The Anti-Money Laundering Council secures asset preservation order from court
Self-confessed drug lord Franz Sabalones can no longer use some of his deposited cash and properties worth more than P300 million.
This after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) was able to secure an asset preservation order (APO) from Regional Trial Court (RTC) Executive Judge Gilbert Moises last month.
Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) 7 formally presented the order to Neil Sabalones, Sabalones’ uncle, at the Paolo Luna Resort, Spa and Restaurant in Barangay North Poblacion, San Fernando yesterday morning.
But the self-confessed drug lord’s uncle said that his nephew has sold the rights to some of their properties, including their resort, to another person.
The APO was issued just 20 days after the same court issued a provisional asset preservation order (PAPO) to Sabalones.
Based on Moises’s order, the APO was approved just 20 days after Sabalones failed to show cause why the PAPO should be lifted.
Sabalones’s lawyer, Atty. Luisito Arma, also didn’t file any pleading as the properties subjected in the PAPO are no longer owned by the former.
But the AMLC argued that the titles to the properties subject to the PAPO are still under Sabalones’s name.
Subject to the APO’s coverage are bank deposits and properties worth P350 million.
Leia Albiar, PDEA 7 spokesperson, said that unlike the PAPO, which only lasts 20 days, the APO will only expire until the case filed against Sabalones by AMLC has been resolved by the court.
Aside from Sabalones, PDEA 7 also provided a copy of the order to the San Fernando Municipal Government.
But even with the APO issued against his nephew, Sabalones’s uncle, Neil, told reporters that their operation at the Paolo Luna Resort, Spa and Restaurant will continue.
“We can still continue operations since there is no court order stopping us from doing so. There are a lot of employees working here who depend on this resort for their livelihood,” Neil said.
But San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya told report- ers that they no longer issued a business permit for Sabalones’s resort since last January.
Reluya said they decided to no longer issue a permit for the resort after the PDEA 7 sent her a letter, informing her of their plan to freeze Sabalones’s assets, which included Paolo Luna Resort.
Reluya said until the issue is resolved, she won’t issue a business permit to Sabalones’s resort.
Sabalones’s uncle, however, plans to approach Reluya to ask for her consideration. /