Erap admits signing bank documents as ‘Jose Velarde’

Ousted President Joseph Estrada admitted yesterday that he signed bank documents using the name "Jose Velarde" but denied charges that he laundered millions of pesos in a secret bank account under that alias.

Testifying in his corruption trial at the Sandiganbayan, Estrada maintained that his friend Jose Dichaves was the true owner of the account at Equitable PCI Bank.

"I have no connection or participation whatsoever in the opening of the Jose Velarde account," he told the anti-graft court during questioning by defense lawyer Jose Flaminiano.

Estrada, who was forced out of office by military-backed massive street protests in 2001, dismissed as lies the charges that he amassed up to P4 billion from illegal gambling payoffs, tax kickbacks and commissions.

"I deny all those charges. I never enriched myself with commissions, kickbacks or any pecuniary benefits... I do not own the Jose Velarde account and I did not and never would connive with any person or persons for any illegal purpose or purposes," he told the anti-graft court, referring to the fictitious name under which the account was opened.

Prosecutors say the account contained P3.2 billion at one point.

Estrada said the account actually belonged to Dichaves. Estrada admitted signing the account documents as "Jose Velarde," but said it was part of an "internal arrangement" among him, Dichaves and the bank.

He said another friend and election supporter, William Gatchalian, needed to borrow a large amount of money from the bank for his floundering Wellex group of companies, and he agreed to sign using the alias to act as a guarantor. He did not explain the arrangement further.

Estrada said he was motivated chiefly by concerns about Gatchalian’s 3,000 employees who would have lost their jobs without the loan.

"Since no government money was involved, I did not think twice about signing it," Estrada said.

He cited the earlier testimonies of two bank officers, Romuald Dy Tang and Beatrice Bagsit, to back his claim that he didn’t own the account.

Estrada told reporters after the hearing that Dichaves, whose whereabouts have been unknown since Estrada’s ouster in 2001, had been threatened to prevent him from testifying.

"They have scared him away, that’s why he has fled. Here, if you do not cooperate with them they will threaten you or they will abduct you," he said, referring to the government of his successor, President Arroyo.

Estrada’s camp has accused the administration of persecuting political enemies following the abduction of five Estrada loyalists last Monday.

In testimony during the aborted Senate impeachment trial of Estrada in 2000, Equitable PCI’s senior vice president, Clarissa Ocampo, testified that Estrada, and not Dichaves, owned the account.

Ocampo told the impeachment trial — and later Estrada’s corruption trial at the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court — that she and another senior bank officer, Manuel Curato, brought the documents to Malacañang on Feb. 4, 2000, and Estrada signed them. Curato corroborated Ocampo’s testimony.

Estrada admitted signing the documents but claimed that Ocampo was not aware of the account arrangement between himself, Equitable PCI and Dichaves.

"I don’t know why she was surprised," he said. "It is true that she was just one foot away from me and she turned the pages while I signed one-by-one over the printed name Jose Velarde."

She said former bank chairman George Go, a friend of Estrada’s, ordered her to replace documents linking the account to Estrada with new ones showing Dichaves as the owner.

Special state prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said the defense never submitted an original copy of a letter from Dichaves showing that he owned the account.

Villa-Ignacio said he was "very happy" with Estrada’s testimony. "Our case is getting stronger."

Estrada also yesterday denied a perjury charge in allegedly underreporting his assets in 1999, saying that many of the companies he had shares in were already out of business by the time he became president in 1998.

"Since I became mayor, I have religiously filed my statement of assets and liabilities. So the charge is false. I deny all the charges against me."

Estrada’s long-running trial entered a final stage this year with his appearance as defense witness. The prosecution rested its case in 2003 after presenting 76 witnesses and more than 1,500 pieces of evidence.

The trial adjourned until next Wednesday.

About a hundred diehard supporters rallied outside the court building to press for Estrada’s release. — With AP, AFP