SEC-NBI team raids Legacy offices in Makati, Quezon City

MANILA, Philippines - Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided Friday night the Quezon City and Makati City offices of the Legacy Group and seized boxes of documents and other possible evidence to back up the government’s case against the firm’s owner Celso de los Angeles and others officers.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcers accompanied the raiding team of the NBI’s Anti-Graft Division.

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring confirmed to The STAR over the phone the simultaneous raids but claimed “the NBI just assisted the SEC.” The raids were done on the strength of search warrants issued by the courts.

In a separate phone interview, Allan Contado, NBI spokesman and chief of its Anti-Graft Division, said the raids were coordinated with the SEC.

“We just assisted the SEC. SEC led the operation. It was SEC’s request for the NBI to assist in implementing the search warrants,” Contado said.

He also said the seized boxes contained vital documents like bank checks, vouchers, ledgers, receipts, letters and list of plan holders. The documents are now in the possession of the SEC, he said.

The raided offices of Legacy were at the World Center Building on De la Costa street in Makati City and on Scout Borromeo Street corner Quezon Ave. in Quezon City.

Legacy’s Makati office occupied the 3rd, 7th, 23rd, 29th and 30th floors of World Center.

The NBI and SEC teams found Legacy’s Quezon City office abandoned – since September – but with guards securing the area.

De los Angeles, his son Martin Nicolo, and several Legacy officers are facing charges of syndicated estafa filed separately by the SEC, NBI, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.

The NBI filed its syndicated estafa case against Delos Angeles and other Legacy officers last Friday.

Aside from De los Angeles, the others charged were Namnama Pasetes, chief finance officer; Arnel and Soledad Sulquiano, vice president for marketing and sales agent respectively; Christine Antenor Cruz-Limpin, senior vice president; Carolina Hinola; former chief operating officer; Josefina Castañeda, board member; Elvira Nebre, assistant vice president for finance; Elvira Garcia, human resources/compliance officer; Cecille Invencion, assistant vice president; Edgardo Marasigan, corporate secretary; and Episcopal Church Bishop Ignacio Soliba, independent director and board member.