Saturday February 9, 2013

No to Manila’s extradition request of jailed trader

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is not planning to extradite a man sentenced to two years’ jail by a Kota Kinabalu magistrate’s court after being found guilty of possessing a fake Philippines passport despite a request from Manila.

Businessman Mohammad Kamal Sa’ad, 47, who was arrested on Jan 25 at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport with the fake passport under the name Manuel Karingal Amalilio, is wanted by the Philippines’ authorities over a pyramid scheme involving 15,000 people.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said in a statement that the Philippines’ Embassy had requested for Mohammad Kamal’s extradition.

The Philippines’ Justice Undersecretary Jose Vincent B. Salazar had also requested that the Government freeze Mohammad Kamal’s assets, savings and investments and those owned by people related to him.

Gani said Malaysia would not extradite Mohammad Kamal as he was a Malaysian citizen holding a valid and active identification card.

However, the Attorney-General said, the relevant authorities had been directed to check and freeze all financial records and assets belonging to Mohammd Kamal and his associates.

The AG-Chambers has also received a formal request from the Philippines’ Department of Justice under the Asean Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act, to hand Mohammed Kamal over to authorities in the Philippines.

Abdul Gani said that this request was being handled by the International Affairs Division of the A-G’s Chambers.

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