AMLC denies telling banks that freeze order on Bolante accounts had expired

MANILA, Philippines - The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) denies allowing withdrawals from the 32 bank accounts of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante – accounts that the Court of Appeals had already ordered frozen. Bolante's accounts should still be intact as AMLC "has not issued any official confirmation or instructions to the banks allowing withdrawals from such accounts," according to AMLC executive director Vicente Aquino in a press statement issued on Thursday. Bolante is the alleged architect in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam, which refers to funds alloted for programs for poor farmers but were allegedly diverted to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's campaign kitty in the 2004 elections. AMLC issued the statement to refute the claim of Sen. Richard Gordon that AMLC officials had informed several banks and financial institutions that the freeze order on Bolante’s accounts had expired. Gordon said he learned of this when a staff of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs, called Aquino to inquire how a person could regain access to his bank accounts once the freeze order issued by the CA expires. In a sworn affidavit, Agapito Rene Conchu, a director of the Blue Ribbon Oversight Office Management, said Aquino had told him that the owner of the accounts need not undergo any procedural requirement before the AMLC or CA to gain access to his accounts. He said Aquino also told him that banks and financial institutions would usually call up the latter's office to verify if they can unfreeze the contested accounts. In the AMLC statement, Aquino said banks should not lift the effects of a freeze order without securing official confirmation from them, as provided for under Rule 10.5 of the council's revised implementing rules and regulations. He said the letter he sent to the concerned banks last Jan. 5 – or 15 days after the freeze order expired on Dec. 20, 2008 – was intended to remind them of this procedural requirement. "This letter should in no way be construed as AMLC's official confirmation or instruction for them [banks] to release the funds to account owners," Aquino said. Aquino further said that the lifting and expiration of a freeze order are distinct from each other since expiration would not automatically bring about the lifting of the freeze order. According to him, the Association of Bank Compliance Officers of the Philippines is aware of the fact. Aquino also said that AMLC and its secretariat were not negligent of its duties as indicated by their official acts. He said on June 30, 2008, the AMLC, through the Office of the Solicitor General, its statutory counsel, filed a petition to freeze the bank accounts of Bolante. The CA, in response, issued a 20-day freeze order on July 1, 2008. Aquino said under the Rule of Civil Forfeiture and Freeze, a CA freeze order is good only for 20 days, but its effectivity could be extended to a maximum of six months. He said that AMLC obtained on July 16, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), an extension of the effectivity of the freeze order for 30 days. A month later, the CA, acting on a motion by the AMLC through the OSG, issued a resolution further extending the freeze order on Bolante accounts for an additional period of four months or until Dec. 20, 2008. Aquino said the CA also directed the transmittal of the case records to the regional trial court for consolidation with any pending civil forfeiture proceedings. Aquino said in December 2008, before the expiration of the freeze order and in line with the CA directive, the AMLC secretariat recommended to the AMLC the filing of a civil forfeiture petition against Bolante's accounts. He said the AMLC approved the secretariat's recommendation and issued a resolution requesting the OSG to file a petition for civil forfeiture with the court. However, the OSG, citing supervening event related to the Supreme Court decision, decided not to file AMLC's petition for civil forfeiture in the meantime. Aquino said the AMLC continues to gather evidence in pursuance of its investigation of the case in close coordination with the OSG. Last week, Gordon said they would summon officials of the AMLC and the OSG to explain why they failed to extend the freeze order on Bolante’s 32 bank accounts. "There is negligence [on the part of the AMLC and the OSG] at the very least," Gordon said. He added that the AMLC had six months to do a report on Bolante's bank accounts after the CA issued the freeze order, but it has not released the report. Gordon said the AMLC knew that the freeze order was about to expire, but it did not act to extend it. He also said that during the Dec. 10 Senate hearing, Aquino told the panel that his office obtained evidence on the said bank accounts and that their investigation was still ongoing. - GMANews.TV