NY-based Pinoy businessman says he’s ‘fully prepared’ to face bribery charges

The New York-based Filipino businessman who was recently arrested for allegedly resorting to bribes to ensure that his electrical-design company gets lucrative contracts is ready to face the charges against him.

In a statement sent to the Filipino Reporter, Rodolfo Quiambao said he posted bail on the same day he was arrested earlier this month.

“I acknowledge the courtesy extended to me by the prosecution for allowing me to voluntarily submit myself to the jurisdiction of the court. I was asked to go to a government office from which I was then brought to the court where I posted my bail on the same day," he said.

“My lawyers and I are fully prepared to address the allegations against me,” the 71-year-old businessman added.

In a report citing a statement from Kelly Currie, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Forbes said Quiambao paid more than $6.9 million in bribes and kickbacks to Con Edison managers over the past decade in exchange for contracts.

The report said the illegal scheme continued even after the 2009 arrest of 10 Con Edison supervisors for allegedly receiving about $1 million in kickbacks from contractors in exchange for approving padded invoices.

It said from 2009 to 2011, Quiambao’s company, Rudell & Associates, received $30 million from Con Edison.

The cover was blown for Quiambao in 2011 when Con Edison section manager Sassine Razzouk was arrested and pleaded guilty to taking bribes from him, the report said.

In an exclusive statement to the Filipino Reporter, Quiambao’s lawyer Raymond R. Granger said: “There is more to this case than meets the eye. Mr. Quiambao looks forward to the full story being told. He also is very grateful for the many expressions of support that he has received from members of the Filipino community.”

Quiambao, meanwhile, expressed his "deepest appreciation to the members and leaders of the Filipino-American community who have expressed their support to me in facing the charges recently filed."

Quiambao graduated from the Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines, and is a licensed professional engineer. He was named one of non-profit Asian American Business Development Center’s Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business in 2007. —KBK, GMA News


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