Sandiganbayan 4th division to handle Arroyo graft cases
by ANDREO CALONZO, GMA News
January 2, 2012

 The graft cases against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the botched $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal with the Chinese firm ZTE Corp. have been raffled off to the Sandiganbayan’s 4th Division.

A GMA News Report quoted the anti-graft court’s spokesperson, Renato Bocar, as saying that the cases against former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, former Transportation chief Leandro Mendoza, and former poll chief Benjamin Abalos were also assigned to the same division.

Associate Justices Gregory Ong, Jose Hernandez and Maria Cristina Cornejo comprise the Sandiganbayan 4th division.

Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman filed two graft cases against Mrs. Arroyo for the NBN-ZTE deal, saying the former President was “fully aware” of the irregularities in the contract but allowed it to be signed during her term. Mrs. Arroyo cancelled the deal a few months after it was signed.

The same report added that the anti-graft court may come up with an arrest warrant against Mrs. Arroyo and other officials within 10 days if it finds probable cause to try the accused of the cases.

Read full article @ www.gmanetwork.com/

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