At A Glance
- The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has taken custody of the luxury cars allegedly owned by former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized Saturday, Jan. 9.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) has taken custody of the luxury cars allegedly owned by former Ako Bicol Party-list representative Zaldy Co that the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized Saturday, Jan. 9.
Eight of the 15 cars that were reported to the ICI to have been illegally imported into the country are now parked at the body’s headquarters following their confiscation.
According to ICI, the confiscation of the vehicles from a condominium in Taguig City came after the issuance of search warrants by a regional trial court (RTC) over alleged violation of Customs Modernization and Tariff Acts.
ICI said the development stemmed from information it received and verified concerning vehicles allegedly owned by a person under investigation.
“The ICI had received information regarding fifteen vehicles allegedly linked to former ako Bicol Party-list Representative Elizaldy 'Zaldy' Co,” it said.
“Following its investigation, the commission was able to obtain and verify the plate numbers of these vehicles,” added.
According to the body, the information was subsequently relayed to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for ownership verification, and to the BOC to determine whether the vehicles had complete importation documents and payments of duties and taxes.
“The vehicles were found to be registered under entities with ties to the former representative,” it said.
“The BOC determined that nine of the 15 vehicles had incomplete importation documents and unpaid duties and taxes,” it added.
ICI says it remains dedicated to verifying and acting upon the information it receives.
It also encouraged the submission to the commission of credible information relevant to its ongoing investigation of anomalous flood control and infrastructure projects.