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Devnani’s `inner circle’
claim denied

Posted: 0:02 AM (Manila Time) | August 28, 2001
By Armand N. Nocum
Inquirer News Service

Gardiner is the outsider-Devnani

THE FORMER government official who introduced Senate witness Danny Devnani to ousted President Joseph Estrada Monday disputed the Indian businessman’s assertion that he was part of the former leader’s "inner circle."

Eleuterio "Eli" Gardiner, former chief of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, went to the office of Sen. Loi Estrada to contradict Devnani, who has accused Estrada and a number of his allies of being "evil people" who plotted kidnappings and other criminal activities.

"He only met Erap for several times and he is already claiming to be part of the inner circle?" asked Gardiner in a press conference hastily set up by Senator Estrada’s chief of staff, former immigration chief Rufus Rodriguez.

Devnani, however, told the INQUIRER that it was Gardiner who was kept in the dark about their alleged illegal activities and excluded from the group, which included Estrada son Jinggoy, businessman Charlie "Atong" Ang and Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

"There are many things he doesn’t know. He has nothing to do with these illegal activities," Devnani said of Gardiner, who said he was prepared to testify at a Senate inquiry into military intelligence allegations against Lacson.

Gardiner said that Devnani was "one of the five incorporators" of the exclusive Club 419, the former members-only club on Wilson Street in Greenhills, San Juan, when it was renamed the International Business Club in 1996. Estrada has admitted that he used to frequent the club "to meet friends."

"To refresh the memory of Mr. Devnani regarding Club 419, which I co-founded sometime in 1992, it was not a criminal organization as he claims," Gardiner said.

In a Senate hearing Thursday, Devnani said Estrada was the real owner of the club, one of the places where the group allegedly conspired to commit various crimes. Devnani came forward as club owner in 1995 when the club was already getting the attention of the media for its alleged illegal activities, he said.



STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
Gardiner is the outsider-Devnani  
Devnani not a dummy for Erap  

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