By Michelle Remo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) has filed a P5.37-billion syndicated estafa (fraud) case against officers and the owner of Legacy-affiliated banks.
PDIC said the latest case, filed with the Department of Justice, was so far the biggest in terms of amount involved.
The state-owned deposit insurer earlier filed 22 cases against people involved with the operation of banks tied with the Legacy Group, owned by Celso de los Angeles Jr.
De los Angeles, 58, was transferred last month to a jail compound in Ormoc City to face the nonbailable charge of syndicated estafa filed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
He was brought to Ormoc Sugar Planters Association-Farmer’s Medical Center a day after his turnover to the Leyte subprovincial jail. The hospital stay of De los Angeles, who has throat cancer, was approved by Judge Clinton Nuevo of the Regional Trial Court Branch 12.
The latest PDIC case involves Dynamic Bank, one of the banks under the Legacy Group.
PDIC said in its complaint that De los Angeles and several officers of Dynamic Bank “conspired and benefited from the misappropriation and conversion of the bank’s funds amounting to P5.37 billion.â€
Charged were De los Angeles, Germiniano Noche Jr., Ampere Elman, Flora Bulasag, Danilo Consul, Teofila Garcia, Bartolome Quintana, Emilio Quintana, Vicente Quintana, Analea Galban, Cleofas Ordonia, Brenda Sombillo, Leny Yanoria, Jocelyn Arroyo, Rafael Cueto, Grace Delgado, Emylyn Geli, Carmela Illenberger, Sherwin Masusis, Arnel Ligan, Rizalina Alvez and Geraldine Palo.
Deposits stolen
Authorities working on the case said people involved in the operations of the group’s banks would entice people to deposit money by offering above-market interest rates and then steal the deposits through various means, such as falsely declaring that the funds were used for loans.
In the latest case, PDIC alleged that De los Angeles and the others created various fictitious loans, including motorcycle loans, and diverted the funds to the savings accounts of Legacy Motors Inc. and OneCard Company Inc. that were found to be also owned by De los Angeles.
Fictitious bank accounts
PDIC, which tapped the assistance of external auditing firm Punongbayan & Araullo in working on cases against the Legacy group, said De los Angeles and his “conspirators†withdrew P5.37 billion from the savings accounts and then “deposited†the money in fictitious bank accounts.
“PDIC is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to uncover the fraudulent schemes and irregular transactions by Legacy owner Celso de los Angeles Jr. and officers of his Legacy banks,†PDIC president Jose Nograles said in a statement.
PDIC said the fraudulent activities involving the Legacy Group had so far created the heaviest burden on the deposit insurer.
Insurer pays P9.52 billion
PDIC, which is mandated to insure bank deposits, said that as of Sept. 15, it had verified and approved P10.26 billion worth of claims by depositors of various Legacy-owned banks. The amount covers 91,077 claims.
Of the amount of claims approved, P9.52 billion has so far been paid. The amount involves 87,997 claims, PDIC said.
Dynamic Bank is one of the 12 Legacy-affiliated banks that were ordered closed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and placed under PDIC’s receivership since December 2008.
Other Legacy-affiliated banks are the Rural Bank of Parañaque, Pilipino Rural Bank, Rural Bank of Bais (Negros Oriental), Rural Bank of San Jose (Batangas), Bank of East Asia, First Interstate Bank, Philippine Countryside Rural Bank, Nation Bank, Rural Bank of Carmen (Cebu), Rural Bank of DARBCI, and San Pablo City Development Bank.
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