Manila wants US to hand over key fugitives

The Philippine government wants the United States Justice Department to expedite the extradition of Filipino fugitives hiding in the US following the conviction yesterday by a Miami court of House of Representatives member Mark Jimenez for election fraud.

Justice Undersecretary Merceditas Gutierrez said in Manila yesterday that she has appealed to hercounterparts in Washington to comply with the Philippines-US Extradition Treaty.

Jimenez, 56, is facing four counts of tax evasion worth $3.5 million, two counts of conspiracy as well as wire fraud, six counts of false statements and 33 counts of illegal contribution to the 1996 campaign of former president Bill Clinton.

On Thursday in the US, a federal court in Miami sentenced Jimenez, who was once an adviser to former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, to serve 2 years 3 months in prison for the illegal campaigncontribution case and was ordered to pay $1.2 millionrestitution on his guilty plea to election conspiracy and tax evasion charges.

Manila now wants Washington to reciprocate its efforts to have Jimenez face the charges by extraditing to the Philippines several Filipinos it wants convicted for crimes committed back home. Gutierrez did not mention names but among those the Justice Department wants extradited to the Philippines is Charlie "Atong" Ang, a top gambler who is currently undergoing extradition process while in detention in Nevada. Aside from Ang, the Philippine justice department also wants the US to extradite Yolanda Ricaforte, the alleged personal accountant of Estrada who allegedly has information on the former president's dealings.