Former Banco Filipino officials acquitted of falsification charges

A branch of the Makati City Metropolitan Trial Court acquitted former Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank (BFSMB) officers Roberto Afable and Francisco Rivera of criminal complaints for their supposed falsification of public documents and false statements.

In a ruling dated December 15, 2023, Presiding Judge Niño Delvin Embuscado found Afable and Rivera not guilty of the criminal complaints filed against them based on reasonable doubt, after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) claimed BFSMB “window-dressed” its records.

Afable previously served as senior vice president, while Rivera was a director of the BFSMB.

“While there is evidence that there might (be) falsification as impressively argued by the prosecution, however, there is also evidence on the part of the defense, which the prosecution failed or was amiss in covering, supported the defense of both the accused,” the ruling read.

This comes as the central bank — which earlier ordered the closure of BFSMB — was reported to have said the BFSMB “window-dressed” its financial records from 2003 to 2009, to hide operating losses.

“The difference in the supposed accounting treatment of the entries between the complainant BSP and Banco Filipino does not equal falsification especially when the entries were entered by the latter under the circumstances it was in during the times pertinent to the cases herein,” the ruling said.

The BFSMB argued that the BSP and the Monetary Board were “well aware” of the bank’s accounting treatment of its accumulated operating losses, as seen in the revisions of its business plan from 2004 and its eventual approval in 2009.

The BSP in 2011 ordered the closure of BFSMB and placed it under the receivership of state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), as its liabilities topped its assets by P8.4 billion.

The central bank alleged that the BFSMB had engaged in a Ponzi scheme that funded withdrawals using later deposits, as it lured depositors by offering an interest of 6.0% to 14.0% for special savings when other banks were paying only 1.8% to 3.3%. — DVM, GMA Integrated News