P6-billion Legacy accounts 'fraudulent'

MANILA, Philippines - Some P6 billion of the P14 billion in deposit accounts in the 13 rural banks of the failed Legacy group appears to be fraudulent, Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) president Jose Nograles said yesterday.

He told a House hearing that the accounts have been segregated for further examination.

He said of the total deposits, some P1.5 billion has been cleared for payment.

The PDIC has started settling the claims of Legacy’s depositors.

In a statement released to finance reporters yesterday, PDIC also announced the filing of another syndicated estafa case against Legacy owner and Sto. Domingo, Albay Mayor Celso de los Angeles, his wife Ma. Concepcion, son Martin Nicolo and seven company officers.

The PDIC, together with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, earlier filed syndicated estafa charges against De los Angeles and several Legacy officers.

Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez said the PDIC should be doubly careful in settling claims because the interests of legitimate depositors and taxpayers are at stake.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman has appealed again to the Department of Justice to file criminal charges in court against De los Angeles and his cohorts.

“What’s taking them (DOJ prosecutors) so long? There is a crime, there are victims and the modus operandi has already been established,” he said.

He said more than two months have already passed since the BSP and PDIC filed their complaints with the Justice department.

Lagman, who is a lawyer, said it should not be difficult for prosecutors to find probable cause against those responsible for the Legacy scam.

He pointed out that the BSP and PDIC “have painstakingly documented the paper trail on De los Angeles’ liability” before filing their complaints.

A DOJ team led by Senior State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco is looking into the complaints against De los Angeles and his Legacy officers.

Lagman said the Velasco team should now be ready with their findings.

Earlier, he said De los Angeles and his officers could face life in prison if proven guilty. Syndicated estafa is a non-bailable offense. 

New case

The PDIC said it filed yesterday with the Department of Justice Task Force on Legacy another case of syndicated estafa against De los Angeles and his group.

The PDIC said in a statement that its investigators found out how De los Angeles and company made it appear that the heirs of the late owner of Hacienda Busay located in Bago City, Negros Occidental borrowed P56 million from Legacy’s Nation Bank using the hacienda as collateral.

The PDIC said the heirs – Jose, Marciano, Nicolas, Jesus and Geronimo Solinap – “did not and never intended” to obtain a loan from Nation Bank.

Instead, PDIC said the Hacienda Busay heirs sold the property to De los Angeles for P37 million, of which only P30 million was actually received by the Solinap brothers.

De los Angeles reportedly used Nation Bank’s funds to pay the Solinap brothers P25 million in the form of certificates of time deposits (CTDs) and checks.

“The plot thickens as De los Angles and other respondents to the case allegedly made it appear that Nation Bank acquired Hacienda Busay by virtue of an undated Deed of Absolute Assignment after merely a month from the time the purported P56-million loan was extended to the Solinap brothers,” said PDIC.

PDIC said De los Angeles then made it appear that Nation Bank sold Hacienda Busay for P80 million to Hacienda Busay Inc., a corporation owned and controlled by De los Angeles.

“The respondents afterwards made it appear that Hacienda Busay Inc. made amortization payments to Nation Bank,” PDIC said.

The truth, according to PDIC, was that the payments were sourced from one of the savings accounts of De los Angeles funded with fictitious and/or simulated motorcycle loans. With Des Ferriols