MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said a resigned lawmaker at the center of a corruption scandal involving flood infrastructure has been arrested.
Marcos said late Thursday that Zaldy Co is currently in the custody of Czech authorities in Prague after crossing into the Czech Republic without proper documentation.
“We are in close coordination with the Czech government to ensure that all legal processes are followed and to arrange for his return to the Philippines at the soonest possible time,” the president said in a post on X.
Co has been in hiding since being implicated in a graft scandal that cost the Philippines about US$2 billion in public funds. In November, the Philippines’ anti-graft watchdog filed criminal charges against the former congressman and other public works officials for their alleged involvement in irregularities in flood infrastructure.