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Corona’s PSBank records from prosecution ‘are fake,’ says witness


(Updated 9:38 p.m.) The supposed bank records of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona that the prosecution team submitted to the impeachment court were fake, the manager of PSBank Katipunan branch said Monday.   "They are fake documents... These did not come from our bank. They are not replica of genuine documents," said PSBank branch manager Anabelle Tiongson.   Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali earlier claimed before the Senate impeachment court that an anonymous lady handed over to him Corona's PSBank records, which showed the chief magistrate having $700,000 in deposits.   The prosecution attached the documents in a request before the impeachment court to subpoena Corona’s bank records.   Senate President and presiding judge Juan Ponce Enrile asked Tiongson whether the documents were forged, to which she answered yes.   Tiongson also told Enrile that PSBank records are generated by the bank’s computers and have bar codes printed on the pages.   Umali told the impeachment court that a “small lady” gave him an envelope with the bank records outside the Senate building last week.   But a report by the Senate sergeant-at-arms noted that closed circuit television recordings showed no "small lady," Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Sotto III on Monday said.   "It does not contain any little ladies giving anything to Representative Umali, from the time he arrived at one o’clock up to the time that he boarded his vehicle," according to the majority floor leader.   Not from PSBank Katipunan   The details on Corona’s peso and dollar accounts in PSBank — used by the prosecution in its subpoena requests — could not have come from her branch, said Tiongson.   Her branch keeps specimen signature cards from clients inside a steel cabinet, which is secured inside a vault, the bank official noted.   Tiongson named two people, Emelyn Dizon and Almond Raquiza, who act as primary custodians for the signature specimens. She said she could not access these records without Dizon and Raquiza’s consent.   Similar documents are available in the bank's main office, and that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas also saw those records during an audit last year, the witness told the impeachment court.   During her testimony, Tiongson often asked Enrile to repeat his questions and for permission to consult her lawyer, prompting the presiding judge to admonish the witness.   “You are evasive. I warn you, you are under oath,” Enrile told Tiongson.   Documents handed   Lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. explained to the impeachment court that Umali handed over to him the documents during a regular meeting at a hotel in Roxas Boulevard. Prosecution decided to attach the documents from the anonymous source to their subpoena request because they felt duty-bound to let the Senate know these records exist, Tupas said.   Enrile gave the prosecution team 24 hours to explain how it obtained the records on Corona’s bank accounts. — VS/KG, GMA News
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