Govt lawyers goes after AFP-RSBS bank account

MANILA, Philippines - Government lawyers have asked the Sandiganbayan to order the opening of bank account suspected to be the repository of millions in hot money from alleged fraudulent transactions of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Retirement and Separation Benefits System (AFP-RSBS). The account at the Bank of Commerce is said to have been the repository of a P4.85 million check paid for a piece of property believed to have been bought twice by the AFP-RSBS. In a six-page Comment filed Nov 11, Assistant Special Prosecutor II Gay Marie F. Lubigan-Rafael asked the graft court to junk a motion from Bank of Commerce (BoC) invoking RA 1405 of The Law on the Secrecy of Bank Deposits. The BoC is trying to prevent inquiry into Account No. 0145-02366-1. Rafael also moved for the denial of a request by the bank’s Legal Management Services Group to quash the subpoena issued by the court requiring her to produce records pertaining to the questioned bank account and to testify. The prosecutor did not identify under whose name the bank account was registered but said documents she obtained showed that Security Bank Check no. 57573 - for P4.85 million - went into the said BoC account. The check was supposedly issued to Domeciana Ortega and Rodolfo Opeña as payment for a parcel of land in Tanauan, Batangas acquired from them in 1997 by the AFP-RSBS. “Said check, unfortunately, did not go to the pockets of the payees but was allowed to be withdrawn by the accused by another person and subsequently deposited with the Bank of Commerce under account no. 0145-02366-1," the prosecutor said. Suspicion of an anomaly in the land deal was aroused by the discovery of two Deeds of Sale pertaining to the same parcel of land. One, a unilateral deed dated July 24, 1997 and signed only by the former lot owner contained a purchase price of only P720,630. The second deed reportedly found in the files of the AFP-RSBS was dated July 14, 1997 with a purchase cost of P4,852,242. “The unilateral deed of absolute sale with the lower consideration was the one presented to the Register of Deeds of Tanauan to effect transfer of ownership in favor of AFP-RSBS. However, the bilateral deed of absolute sale with the higher consideration was the amount allowed to be released by the accused as the purported payment for the said property," the prosecutor said. Richard S. Allas of the law office of Espino, Marifosque and Allas, counsel for Bank of Commerce, argued that the bank would be exposing itself to legal liabilities if it allows disclosure of details about the bank account. “The Law on Secrecy of Bank Deposits declares that bank deposits should be treated with ‘absolute confidentiality’. With all due respect, allowing the bank to disclose information on the account of a depositor which is not clearly identified is tantamount to fishing for information," he pointed out. - GMANews.TV