RCBC president sues Deguito for libel, seeks P32M in damages

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) president Lorenzo Tan on Monday filed civil and criminal charges against former RCBC-Jupiter Branch Manager Maia Deguito for her “scurrilous remarks” implicating him as the mastermind in the $81-million money-laundering activity involving the bank and funds from Bangladesh.

In his complaint filed with the Makati City Regional Trial Court, Tan accused Deguito of libel and false testimony under the Revised Penal Code.

“All of these [imputations] were products of mere assumptions made by respondent [Deguito] that I oversaw and thus authorized the questioned transactions. Her imagination had simply gone beyond what was real or actual, and is farthest from the truth,” read Tan's complaint.

“The imputation of the foregoing acts diminished if not destroyed my reputation as a banker,” the complaint added.

Tan said his profession is "based on utmost trust and confidence between myself and the Bank’s clients, and I have striven hard to keep my reputation from being sullied as it is my source of livelihood and productivity as a professional."

"Without a good reputation, I cannot be a credible banker, let alone be called one," he added.

Four bank accounts under fictitious names were opened on May 15, 2015 at the RCBC Jupiter branch in Makati by Deguito supposedly upon the referral of businessman Kim Wong.

Wong has since denied the allegation.  

Deguito allegedly facilitated the money transfers involving the Bangladesh funds to the four accounts last February. The Department of Justice is set to start its preliminary investigation on Deguito and Wong on Tuesday.

Deguito was fired by RCBC and charged with falsifying documents before the Department of Justice and the Makati Prosecutor's Office in the wake of the scandal.

'Defamatory remarks'

Tan alleged that Deguito's supposed "defamatory remarks" made in media interviews, the Senate hearings, and in her March 7 reply to RCBC’s Show Cause Memorandum showed malice on her part and is “a clear ploy to create a defense for herself against the various criminal accusations made against her by implicating me as complicit in her caper.”

Tan also accused Deguito of giving a false testimony when she stated before the Senate that Tan gave her instructions to “take care of his [Tan’s] friends.”

In a statement read before the Senate on April 5, Deguito said that she “relied on the fact that Mr. Tan could not have been unaware of a transaction that has been labeled the biggest bank heist in the history of the world.”

[Read: Deguito claims she never got a cent from Bangladesh millions]

Aside from criminal charges, Tan also filed a civil complaint for damages against Deguito for abuse of rights and defamatory imputations, and claimed for damages worth P32 million. Tan claimed for moral, exemplary, and temperate damages on top of attorney’s fees.

Tan, in a statement sent to justice reporters, said he filed the cases to protect his honor and integrity as a person and as a professional banker.

“I have no other asset but my reputation, a gift that is of utmost value in an industry dealing with trust and people’s monies,” he said.

“Even if her accusations against me are found untrue, my reputation which I had carefully built and guarded for almost 35 years has already been irretrievably tainted,” he added.

Tan said he has already taken a voluntary leave from his company to avoid any perception of undue influence in the ongoing internal investigation by the RCBC on the matter.

Tan said Deguito and her counsel "conjured together to make public imputations of money laundering offenses and dishonorable conduct against him, despite the blatant admission of Deguito that she directly handled the money laundering transactions."

Tan said he has been in the banking industry for almost 34 years, including nine years with RCBC. He said under his leadership, the bank's total assets grew from P220 billion in 2007 to P530 billion in 2015. He added that the bank's branch network, automated teller machines network, and number of customers significantly grew under his tenure. — RSJ, GMA News