DOJ wants arrest of HK Securities officials fast-tracked

The Department of Justice has called on law enforcers to fast-track the arrest of five officials of Manila-based brokerage firm HK Securities Inc., who were charged with syndicated estafa for failing to account for P106 million in clients’ securities. A statement from the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) on Wednesday said that last Dec. 10, 2010, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima asked the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to arrest the accused. They are Rodolfo V. Cruz, Cecilia F. Cruz, Primalee Cruz-Cordero, Abelardo R. Cordero, and Melogen Buesa. The accused have standing warrants of arrest against them but De Lima said, “not one of the accused has been arrested to date, thereby rendering all efforts of the prosecution meaningless." The PSE, on orders of the Securities and Exchange Commission, took over HK Securities in September 2008 after the firm failed to account for its clients' securities worth P106 million. That same year, complaints of syndicated estafa were filed against the firm’s officials. The DOJ later found probable cause to indict the five officials for syndicated estafa, a non-bailable offense. The statement likewise said that before PSE's takeover, the PSE Market Regulation Division suspended the brokerage firm from its trading operations and expelled it from the PSE over "various violations of the securities laws uncovered during MRD's audit of HK Securities." — With Sophia Dedace/VS, GMANews.TV