Estrada withdrew P143 M from Urban

The treasure hunt continues.

Another huge bank account reportedly belonging to deposed President Joseph Estrada was exposed yesterday by congressmen who prosecuted him in his Senate impeachment trial.

Representatives Joker Arroyo of Makati and Oscar Moreno of Misamis Oriental told reporters that Estrada had maintained account No. 858 at the Greenhills branch of the failed Urban Bank.

They said the ousted pre-sident withdrew a total of P143,764,096.28 from his account on April 24, 2000, Easter Monday, a day before Urban Bank, then experiencing financial difficulties, declared a banking holiday and never reopened.

The withdrawal was in the form of two manager’s checks (check 052093 for P107,191,780.85 and check 052092 for P36,572,315.43). The check for P107.2 million was deposited on the same day with the Ortigas Center branch of Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co.

Moreno pointed out that the fact that the ousted leader withdrew his money a day before the bank closed "is no coincidence."

He said Estrada enjoyed an "undue preference and advantage" over small depositors whose money got stranded in Urban Bank.

"I challenge Gov. Rafael Buenaventura of the Bangko Sentral to tell the nation that he was unaware of this. If he claims he was, he should resign," said Moreno.

Arroyo said it is very evident that the former president was tipped off to get his money out of the bank before it closed.

He supported his colleagues’ call for Buenaventura to quit.

Arroyo and Moreno, who were the prosecutors who exposed Estrada’s Jose Velarde accounts in Equitable-PCI Bank, furnished reporters with photocopies of the check deposited with Metrobank and the letter of authority for Urban Bank to issue the two manager’s checks payable to cash.

The information about Estrada’s alleged "858" account was volunteered by "well-meaning Filipinos" in Urban Bank, said Moreno, a former banker.

The letter of authority was signed "Eight five eight."

"We have no doubt that that is Erap’s penmanship," said Arroyo, who first gave the nation a glimpse into the Velarde account and handwriting on Dec. 7, Day One of the impeachment trial.

He said the deposed President has another account denominated as 318 and which he signed as "Three one eight."

Besides the Velarde deposits, prosecutors have claimed that Estrada had amassed cash in various banks under such false names as Jose Marcelo and accounts named after airplane models, including 747, 727, A-300, and A-330.

They alleged that the Velarde account alone held as much as P3.23 billion.

Arroyo said the Urban Bank documents will be turned over to private lawyers who helped the House prosecution panel during Estrada’s impeachment trial.

Moreno said the "well-meaning" informants in Urban Bank have told prosecutors that the former president kept at one time as much as P600 million in the failed bank.

"They also told us that account 858 was owned by Estrada," he said.