Legacy Group owner faces more suits for fraud

The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) has filed yet another set of fraud complaints against Legacy Group owner Celso delos Angeles, bringing the total number of charges filed to 17. In a statement, PDIC President Jose Nograles said the latest charges pertain to the fraudulent creation of loans worth P136.7 million and making these appear as deposits of Fusion Capital Corp. in the Rural Bank of Carmen in Cebu province. Delos Angeles later admitted owning the company during a Senate inquiry, he said. “Investigations revealed that delos Angeles and his co-conspirators had created 30 fictitious investment loans amounting to P136.7 million from December 2007 to February 2008," the PDIC said. The owner had made it appear that about P104 million was deposited to the savings account of Fusion Capital with rural bank, it added. Charged for fraud with delos Angeles were Legacy officers Alexis Petralba, Roy Hilario, Rafael Rafanan Jr., Namnama Pasetes, Cecil Invencion, Mylen Banez, and Juan Labobo. Nograles alleged that Hilario, Pasetes, Invencion and Rafanan had withdrawn more the money from the savings account and used it to pay for marketing incentives and solicit deposits to other Legacy banks and related corporations. “The investment loans were later erased from the books after the loans in the gross amount of P136.7 million were assigned to Juan Labobo and Mylen Banez, in exchange for properties overvalued by P131.5 million," Nograles said. — GMANews.TV