Court of Appeals freezes 242 bank accounts of VP Binay, kin, allies

Published May 12, 2015 7:30pm

(UPDATED 8:00 p.m.) The Court of Appeals has frozen 242 bank accounts and insurance policies belonging to Vice President Jejomar Binay, some members of his family and close associates, who are suspected of being his dummies.

In a 33-page decision released by the First Division on Monday, the appellate court granted the petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, which is looking into Binay's financial transactions and those of entities being linked to him and his family.

The CA gave weight to the AMLC's investigation that found probable cause to link the individual and joint bank accounts of the Vice President, Gerry Limlingan, Ebeng Baloloy, Antonio Tiu, some members of the Chong family, some companies linked to the Binay family, and even whistle-blower and Binay's former close ally Ernesto Mercado.

According to the CA, the bank accounts of the Vice President, his wife Elenita, their son Makati Mayor Junjun Binay, and other Makati officials involved the case, contained amounts that were inconsistent with those they declared in their respective statements of assets, liabilities and net worth.

GMA News obtained a copy of the freeze order from Mercado, who is also one of the respondents in the AMLC's investigation.

Binay and several others are facing criminal charges before the Ombudsman and investigation by a Senate Blue Ribbon Subcommittee in connection with the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall Building II and Makati Science High School, and an allegedly disadvantageous land deal between the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and Alphaland.

Withdrawals, transfers

According to the court, the AMLC found records of huge cash transactions in the subject bank accounts when Building II and Makati Science High School were constructed between 2007 and 2014.

The council also found that there were many withdrawals and fund transfers from the accounts of Limlingan and Baloloy, close associates and alleged dummies of the Vice President, when the Senate subcommittee started in August 2014 to investigate the allegations of corruption against Binay.

Time deposits were also reportedly closed.

The freeze order also covered the accounts of Tiu, the businessman who claimed to own the so-called Hacienda Binay in Batangas.

The AMLC reportedly found that were huge withdrawals and fund transfers from Tiu's account between June 30, 2014 and July 2, 2014.

Confidential proceedings

The Vice President's camp said it couldn't confirm the appellate court's order to freeze bank accounts "supposedly identified with Vice President Binay and members of his family based on the recommendation of the AMLC."

“We cannot confirm this report. We do not know if such an order has been issued by the Court of Appeals. Court proceedings of this nature are deemed highly confidential and any party who discloses is subject to contempt,” said Joey Salgado, the Makati City government's spokesperson.

In a statement, Salgado alleged that key leaders of the Liberal Party have already obtained copies of the confidential report of the AMLC on the Vice President's bank accounts and will use it to demolish Binay.

“We have received reports that as early as last month, key personalities of the LP already got copies of the AMLC report, which is supposed to be confidential. The LP has its fingerprints all over the AMLC probe. This is apparently part of their game plan,” said Salgado in a press statement.

He said the AMLC report will serve as the basis for any freeze order from the courts. —NB/JST/JJ, GMA News

Tags: jejomarbinay, makaticityhallbuildingii