DOJ junks raps vs Dante Tan, 7 others in BW scam

The Department of Justice has dismissed the criminal charges filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against former President Joseph Estrada’s crony Dante Ang and seven others for their participation in the BW Resources stock manipulation for lack of sufficient evidence.

But the SEC remains undaunted and is now reviewing all legal options available to pursue its case against the individuals and entities involved in the BW scam.

"We might see the need of reviewing it again, but it is better to wait for the decision of the SEC en banc," Syquia said.

According to him, the SEC may submit additional documents to substantiate allegations against persons and corporations implicated in the BW price-fixing scandal, which nearly caused the collapse of the stock market in 1999.

The DOJ has dismissed most of the charges contained in the SEC’s third and final report on BW.

The 52-page resolution of a DOJ panel said the SEC failed to present sufficient evidence to support the charges of hyping the stock, wash sales, matched orders and cross trades, marking the close and done-through transactions and syndicated estafa against Tan and other respondents.

The DOJ said Tan cannot be charged in court for executing four wash sales transactions because the SEC failed to show a "recognizable pattern, regularity or frequency" in the transactions. In all four transactions, involving 137,000 BW shares, Tan was both buyer and seller.

Apart from Tan, others cleared by the DOJ are Lucio Co, another Estrada crony who owns the Pure Gold supermarket chain in Metro Manila; brokers Jerry Angping of Angping & Associates, Wilson Sy (Wealth Securities), Charles Ngan (Securities 2000), and individuals Ramon Lee and Jeanette Que.

The DOJ, however, found probable cause to charge Reynaldo Madrilejo of Abacus Securities and Johnny Yap of Solar Securities for wash sales and Francisco Liboro of PCCI Securities and Brokers Corp. for private placements and prearranged transactions.

The DOJ earlier filed charges against Tan and 12 other business executives before the Pasig Regional Trial Court for various violations of the Revised Securities Act (now known as the Securities Regulation Code). The cases are still undergoing trial.

During 2000 to 2002, the SEC received a total P21.27 million in settlement offers from individuals and brokerage houses tagged in the BW scandal.

The SEC investigation was spurred by the phenomenal rise in the share prices of BW from only P1.98 per share to a peak of P107 per share in just seven months. The shares have since fallen to below P1.