$11.6 M in two vans intercepted at NAIA

BSP: Nothing unusual

Two currency shipments, totaling some $11.624 million, were held at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) yesterday on suspicion that they were part of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

The shipments were held at the airport by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on orders of new Customs Commissioner Titus Villanueva, who was acting on information provided by lawyer Homobono Adaza and anti-crime crusader Lauro Vizconde.

But Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Go-vernor Rafael Buenaventura told The STAR that the shipment would be part of normal banking operations if the currency was shipped by authorized banks.

"If the dollars were shipped by banks, it would probably be part of the service of authorized banks for other banks to get rid of their excess cash," Buenaventura said.

The BSP chief, how-ever, said that if the currency was shipped by individuals, then the case should be investigated. He said he has instructed BSP Deputy Governor and Chief Legal Counsel Armando Suratos to look into the matter.

The consignee of the two shipments was identified as H.K.G. Briggs Inc. for the Manila offices of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) and Bank of America.

The dollars were brought from the banks’ offices to the tarmac of NAIA’s Terminal 1 by two armored vehicles of the Tamaraw Security Agency and were to be loaded on a Cathay Pacific flight for Hong Kong at around 5:30 p.m.

The dollars were in black bags weighing from 110 to 117 kilograms, authorities said.

Vizconde, vice chairman of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), claims the shipments were part of the millions that have been shipped to the United States via Hong Kong since Tuesday.

Vizconde expressed suspicion that "only people with connections and allies and influence can manipulate such shipments."

He also said "the shipments were done in connivance with some airport officials."

He said from $16 million to $18 million had already been shipped since Jan. 23 by people closely identified with Estrada.

Vizconde claimed the VACC, through its informants, has already established the identities of the carrier and shipper and would be able to name the people who owned the money.

"It’s ill-gotten wealth," said Vizconde. "We suspect it belongs to the Estrada family. Everyday there is a shipment. It happens at the same time, every day."

He also claimed that the VACC received information that the Estradas still have deposits amounting to as much as $40 billion in different banks in the Philippines.

The currency is now under BOC custody pending further investigation, Customs officials said.

Ernesto Francisco, an officer of the security agency, said HSBC and Bank of America regularly ship greenbacks through their security agency.

"We have been doing this ever since and we have never encountered any problems," Francisco said, stressing that they had all the papers to prove that there was nothing wrong with the shipment.

When authorities held the shipment, the security agency produced two airway bills for the shipments, through which Customs officials determined how much were in the bags.

But the bags remained unopened as of presstime because representatives from the two foreign banks had not arrived to witness the opening of the two shipments. - With reports from Liberty Dones, Cecille Suerte Felipe