DOJ orders immigration lookout bulletin vs LBC Devt Bank head, five borrowers

The Department of Justice has ordered the Bureau of Immigration to issue an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against the president and five borrowers of the shuttered LBC Development Bank. According to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. in a statement issued over the weekend, the DoJ issued the order after the PDIC filed a P229.5-million syndicated estafa charge with the department against bank president Ma. Eliza Berenguer and borrowers Benito Ramon Araneta, Ma. Lourdes Senn, Ernesto Barrios, Charito Zambales and Francisco Climent. DoJ Secretary Leila de Lima earlier said the issuance of the ILBO was necessary as the respondents may attempt to leave the country. According to the PDIC complaint, Berenguer from October 2006 to January 2008 directly instructed the bank's principal officers to divert its funds to the deposit accounts maintained by the borrowers in other banks. LBC Development Bank was closed on Sept. 9, 2011 due to its estimated realizable assets being insufficient to cover its liabilities. The bank also had a build-up of advances made to its affiliates that weakened its finances, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas told GMA News Online in an earlier interview. — BM, GMA News