Presidential sister, husband involved in alleged extortion

**Retz** · June 28th, 2013 03:34 PM

Presidential sister, husband involved in alleged extortion

President Benigno Aquino III’s sister and her husband are allegedly involved in extorting a foreign company for the train that will be use for the MRT Line 3 project.

According to a source, some officials from the Czech company Inekon Company refused to give an “advance” payment to the group of Presidential sister Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, her husband Eldon Cruz, former DOTC Sec. Pete Prado and Engr. Steve Psinakis, husband of Precy Lopez, daughter of the late Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Sr.

Because of this, employees from the DOTC asked PNOY himself to investigate on the allegation of Extortion by his older sister’s group against the Chezh company.

The alleged asking money amounts between Two to 20 Million dollars, in order for the Inekon Company to get the assurance that the project will be awarded to them.

Officials from the Inekon Company were surprised with the group’s proposal. The group even went to the Czech Republic to discuss the said deal with them.

Based on the records of the DOTC, the Inekon Company is one of the bidders in purchasing of additional new trains for the MRT 3 and DOTC Sec. Jun Abaya expressed that they are indeed buying new trains in Czech Republic instead of the second hand ones being offered in Spain.

Instead of giving the “grease money”, Inekon reported the said extortion to the Czech government and are set to complain to President Aquino.

Meanwhile, Presidential Communications and Operations Office Sec. Sonny Coloma doubts that the report regarding this case is true.

According to Coloma, the process of bidding a project in the government is complicated and that he doesn’t believe that the sister of the President and her husband are involved in any issue of extortion.

He insisted that a project will have to go through intense scrutiny before it gets approve by the NEDA Board with the President himself as Chairman.

A project will have to go through technical evaluation and economic studies before it reaches NEDA.

The Inekon Company didn’t make it through the said process and the DOTC announced that the Dalian Locomotive and Rolling Stock Co./CNR Group of China passed the bidding requirements of the said project with the amount of 3.76 Billion pesos. (Judie Anne Abejero)

Source: Presidential sister, husband involved in alleged extortion

**macsd** · June 30th, 2013 10:43 AM

If there is smoke, there's fire. What is new, Cory's time, Kamag anak incorporated that was notorious on this sort of things. With 3 yrs left, why not make the most of it.

**chua_riwap** · June 30th, 2013 11:13 AM

maliit siguro tf nya sa ariel kaya gusto nya added income.

lets wait for pnoy's reaction. pero malabong imbestigahan yan. this will die a natural death.

**Monseratto** · June 30th, 2013 12:50 PM

Time ni Cory, yung Sumulongs at si Peping...

Si Steve Psinakis was one of those linked to the bombings during Marcos time. One of those bombing injured Nonoy Zuniga, in which he lost a leg

Ano ata reaksyon ng mga yellow army...hehehe.

Ballsy just a victim in Czech extort tale?
POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr. (The Philippine Star) | Updated June 30, 2013 - 12:00am

WOBBLY TALE: On the face of it, I do not believe the black propaganda that presidential eldest sister Ballsy Aquino-Cruz had tried extorting a bribe from a Czech company interested in a contract to supply coaches for a Metro Manila light rail line.

To me, having known this prim and proper daughter of Ninoy and Cory Aquino, it would be out of character for her to demand a bribe from a would-be contractor and thereby ruin the name that the family had nurtured all their lives.

In the second place the story that was planted in the media, attributed to unknown sources, is so lacking in details that would give it the ring of truth.

* * *

TRAVELING TROUPE: The general line of the rumor is that two years ago Ballsy and her husband Eldon Cruz traveled with some friends to Prague, where the Philippine ambassador happened to be the friend of another brother-in-law (not Eldon) of President Noynoy Aquino.

Then and there, the rumor goes, the group talked with Inekon Tram, a Czech firm, allegedly to assure its getting the supply contract if it paid the visitors from Manila certain bribes, including advances running to as much as $20 million!

Those peddling the story added that the Czech ambassador in Manila, Josef Rychtar, is about to drop a bomb by giving details of the supposed extortion attempt. (He would do this country a favor by talking officially and publicly about the alleged extortion.--fdp)

The group is reported to have included Pete Prado, a former official of the Department of Transportation and Communications during the term of President Cory Aquino, and engineer Steve Psinakis, a son-in-law of the late Eugenio Lopez Sr

**Phoenix67** · July 1st, 2013 04:39 PM

Wala naman proof....puro allegations. Sana merun silang video nuong inextort sila... O kaya documents about the alleged extortion.

**shadow** · July 1st, 2013 04:53 PM

kinda hard to believe. probably people are just dropping her name...

**coiter** · July 1st, 2013 05:12 PM

may lopez pang nasama kaya parang usual suspects ang 'source' nito.
oh well, next elections ay presidential na kaya sinisimulan na ang demolition job.
if this is true, sana lumabas na ang whistle blower