Jailed Philippine official vows to fight extradition

Keith Paul

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001 | 9:43 a.m.

A friend and adviser of ousted Philippines President Joseph Estrada, who is currently being tried on charges of plundering cash from the island nation, is in a local jail this morning vowing to fight extradition and saying that his life may be in danger if he is returned home.

Charlie "Atong" Ang, 43, is in the North Las Vegas jail as a federal prisoner after his arrest by FBI agents about 2 a.m. Sunday in the casino of the Paris hotel-casino.

Ang, who faces an extradition hearing in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas on Feb. 28, is charged in his homeland, along with Estrada and others, with plunder in connection with various schemes that resulted in the looting of 4.97 billion Philippine pesos -- about $90 million.

"This is a matter of life and death. If he stays (in the United States) it's life, and death if he goes back," said Donald Etra, Ang's attorney. "There were numerous death threats prior to fleeing to the United States."

But government officials in Manila say Ang's life is not in danger, and he fled the country to avoid the charges.

"Mr. Estrada and a few other underlings are already in custody, and none of them appears the worse for it," said Vic Lecaros, spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Philippines.

Ang and Yolande Ricaforte are accused of sneaking out of the country as their passports were being revoked by the government in January. On Jan. 20 Estrada left the presidential palace; he stepped down as hundreds of thousands of protesters called for his ouster, Lecaros said.

Etra said Ang never tried to evade arrest and even tried to determine if there was a warrant. Etra said when he called the U.S. Justice Department, officials would not "confirm or deny" as to whether a warrant for Ang's arrest existed.

Ang was arrested on an extradition request from the Philippine government.

Lecaros said Ricaforte is also accused in the schemes. Etra, however, who also represents Ricaforte, said he has not been told she is also wanted.

"These charges are solely political, and Mr. Ang denies these allegations," Etra said. "There is an extradition treaty, but our defense is that this is a political matter, not a criminal matter, and political offenses are not covered under the treaty and Mr. Ang should not be extradited."

Lecaros said the charge of plunder is criminal, not political.

"I think there is an effort by his attorney to make this political because the extradition treaty excludes political crimes," he said. "If his lawyer passes it off to be political it excludes him from extradition. It's what lawyers do."

According to a complaint from the Philippines, Ang is accused of acting as an emissary for Estrada in receiving illegal gambling receipts for the former president. He is also accused of receiving and giving to Estrada kickbacks from a tobacco excise tax.

According to the complaint, the schemes included illegal numbers games called "Jueteng" and "Bingo 2 Ball."

"The fugitive is a known gambler, and former consultant on gambling for Estrada," according to the complaint.

The complaint states that Ang, "is said to be the architect or brain child behind the 'Bingo 2 Ball' operations," and that Ang was, "unjustly enriching himself at the expense of the Filipino people and the Republic of the Philippines."

Estrada recently lost in the Philippine Supreme Court to have the plunder law declared unconstitutional. Estrada was in the country's senate when the law was passed, Lecaros said.

FBI agents arrested Ang without incident Sunday after receiving information from Filipino authorities that he had been spotted recently in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Ang was reportedly in Las Vegas to gamble and is known to place big wagers.

"He is thankful to be in U.S. custody and not in Philippine custody," Etra said.

Jace Radke contributed to this story.