PRESS RELEASE
26 February 2010

Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera is leaving the Department of Justice with an unfinished business: her failure to answer in writing the letter dated 11 February 2010 of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman on why alleged Legacy scam mastermind Celso delos Angeles is in a condominium suite instead of in a prison cell.

Lagman said that Devanadera’s persistent refusal to formally answer his query “smacks of apparent complicity in the improvident discharge of delos Angeles from the St. Luke’s Medical Center and his transfer to the nearby Cathedral Heights Complex.”

“While contemporary American pyramiding culprit Bernard Madoff is now serving a prison term, delos Angeles is holding political caucuses in the comfort of a condominium suite”, Lagman added.

Devandera must respond to the following questions before she leaves the DOJ to actively pursue her bid for a congressional seat:

1. Why did the DOJ prosecutors fail to successfully oppose the transfer of delos Angeles from his hospital bed to a condominium suite, and bring him instead to a detention cell?

2. Why does it take so long for DOJ prosecutors to finish the preliminary investigation of the many criminal complaints against delos Angeles, including a string of non-bailable syndicated estafa cases?

3. Why are pending warrants of arrest against delos Angeles not served up to now?

Lagman lamented that “after billions of pesos have been marauded from Legacy banks and pre-need establishments, and countless investors victimized, delos Angeles continues to elude and mock justice under the very noses of the DOJ officials.”

“This is a scam after a scam”, Lagman stated.