Urban Bank employees charge BSP lawyers with coercion

Urban Bank employees have asked the Ombudsman to press charges against lawyers of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) for allegedly harassing and coercing them into giving derogatory statements against the failed bank.

Bank managers Chulla Formanes, Milagros Santiago and Rowena Punsalan asked the government’s prosecution arm to file criminal and administrative charges against BSP lawyers Vicente Aquino, Manuel Lazaro, PDIC lawyer Pabrolo Romero Jr., Urban Bank Inc. (UBI) official Angel Obrero, and PDIC examiners Shirley Felix, Anne Hinola and Maileen Manaig.

The complainants claimed that last Aug. 24, they were called to a conference room of the Urban Bank Plaza in Makati City, and questioned by Aquino, Lazaro and Romero who were accompanied by the other respondents.

Their roles in UBI’s purchase of Urbancorp Investments Inc. (UII) receivables were questioned by the officers.

The interrogators, the three said, established "an atmosphere of intimidation" and clearly threatened them with a lawsuit if they failed to cooperate and comply with demands made upon them.

The complainants claimed they were forced to execute affidavits stating that the purchase of UII receivables "had been marked with procedural lapses."

They were also instructed to state that "no credit investigation report and appraisal preceded the purchase."

"It was made clear that failure to comply would result to being implicated in a criminal case to be filed by the BSP against top-level Urban Bank executives," they said.

Last month, monetary officials filed charges of economic sabotage against the three managers along with top Urban Bank executives for allegedly misappropriating P2.8 billion in funds which significantly contributed to the bank’s closure on April 26.

The BSP said the conversion of funds resulted in immense damage that upset the rights and interests of depositors, creditors and stockholders.

Monetary investigators revealed that Urbancorp Investment had resorted to "heavy inter-bank borrowings" from February to April just to enable the company to meet its precarious liquidity requirements.

The medium-sized Urban Bank declared a bank holiday due to massive withdrawals in April, and was later ordered closed by regulators on April 26.