DOJ panel to probe BSP charges vs Legacy execs

(Updated 9:43 a.m.) MANILA, Philippines - The Justice department on Monday said it has set up a panel to look into the charges lodged by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) against officials of the controversial Legacy Group. In a radio interview, Justice Sec. Raul Gonzalez said he ordered the creation of the panel to receive the complaint lodged by the BSP and conduct a "thorough" investigation against Legacy Group. "I already set up a panel for that. The BSP should have reason and basis for what referral they make," Gonzalez said in an interview on dzXL radio. Last weekend, the BSP lodged the second wave of charges against officials of Legacy but failed to nail owner Celso de los Angeles Jr. De los Angeles was not named as an official in any of the four firms named in the charges. However, Gonzalez said he has ordered his panel to go deeper into the complaints lodged by the BSP. "Obviously without advancing a theory, it would appear that De los Angeles should be one of those investigated," he said. But in a separate radio interview, BSP governor Amado Tetangco, Jr. said the agency is preparing another wave of charges which may also include De los Angeles as respondent. "Itong ginagawa ng BSP pagpapatuloy ng investigation at case buildup. Sa aking paningin marami pang kaso ang isasampa ng BSP, hindi pa kami tapos dito (What we are doing is a continuing investigation and case buildup. I think there are still more cases we can file. We're not yet through)," Tetangco said in an interview on dzXL radio. He said last weekend's wave of charges was the second since the first wave of charges last Jan. 5. He did not say when the next batch of charges will be filed. When asked if De los Angeles will be included in the next batches of charges, he said it will depend on the evidence they can gather. "As we are able to build up additional cases based on the evidence we continue to gather we will file appropriate cases accordingly. Lahat na may kinalaman dito isasama sa kasong ifa-file (Everyone who is liable will be included)," he said. In the meantime, Tetangco said victims of the mess involving the Legacy Group can expect to start getting their deposits from the Philippine Insurance Deposit Corp. (PDIC) at the middle of this month. He said the PDIC already hired external auditors to validate deposit insurance claims. "Titingnan nila ang claims kaya nag-hire sila ng external auditors para matulungan sila sa pag-validate ng mga deposit insurance claims (They will look at the claims and they have hired external auditors to help validate the claims). Based on what PDIC has said, they will be able to begin paying out deposit claims around middle of February," he said. "Malapit na 'yan (The PDIC will start in a few days), in a few days," he added. Last weekend, the BSP said it has filed cases against officers and employees of four rural banks under the controversial Legacy Group, initiating the process for possible criminal charges before the courts. Tetangco said 116 counts of falsification of public and commercial documents were filed along with two counts of false statements against 18 officers, employees, and agents of four rural banks belonging to the Legacy Group. The banks were identified as the Rural Bank of Parañaque, Rural Bank of DARBCI in South Cotabato, Rural Bank of San Jose in Batangas, and Bank of East Asia. De los Angeles was not included in the charges since he was not listed as an official or stockholder in any of the Legacy group of companies that were charged. Espenilla said the BSP was only able to move against the Legacy Group in late November when the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order against the CA. "People should know that it was a struggle all the way," Espenilla said. "We were not harassing these banks, and we were not sleeping on our jobs." According to Espenilla, the Legacy banks were caught using manufactured official documents that have been used for fictitious loans. "Getting deposits from the public was only the first part of the scheme," Espenilla said. "The second essential part is taking that away and fictitious loans were just one scheme. There were many others." Depositors of the Legacy Group now had only the PDIC as their only recourse by claiming their deposit insurance up to P250,000. - GMANews.TV