MANILA, Philippines—Four businessmen accused of being dummies of the bankrupt American investment bank Lehman Brothers have posted bail after warrants for their arrest were issued against them by a Mandaluyong City regional trial court.

The four, incorporators of the firm Philippine Investment One Inc. (PIOI), were issued arrest warrants on Sept. 4 by Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court Branch 214. Norman H. Macasaet and Carlos Mañalac applied for provisional liberty on Wednesday, while Edilberto Castañeda and Ana Marie Katigbak posted bail the following day.

The fifth accused, Michael C. Rabonza, remains at large.

But the lawyer of Macasaet and Mañalac denied that a warrant of arrest or a hold departure order was issued against his clients. He said they posted bail before a warrant for their arrest could be issued. And they did so only to put themselves under the jurisdiction of the court.

Beetle Lichauco of the Siguion Reyna Law office said in an interview on the phone that a cash bond was posted the same day the arrest warrant was to be issued.

Lichauco also cited a Department of Justice resolution signed by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Sept. 11 granting the petition of the accused for a review of the case and setting aside the findings of the Mandaluyong City prosecutor of a probable case against them.

The resolution also ordered the prosecutors to withdraw the information against them.

Lichauco said it was now up to the court to act on the prosecution’s motion to withdraw the case. He said the court usually grants the motion in such cases.

In a separate statement sent to the Inquirer, Mañalac said the case of restaurateur Victor Villavicencio was “groundless and without merit,” citing the DOJ resolution.

Anti-Dummy Law

Judge Edwin Sorongon issued the warrants following a complaint against the five for violation of the Anti-Dummy Law filed by Villavicencio, president of the Triple V Group of restaurants.

Villavicencio alleged that Lehman Brothers was the actual owner of PIOI and the five were only dummies. PIOI bought Villavicencio’s Shaw Boulevard property in Mandaluyong from what was then Equitable-PCI Bank under the Special Purpose Vehicle Law.

Villavicencio said Equitable-PCI Bank acquired the property from Villavicencio as part of his P400-million obligation with the stipulation that he could reacquire the property within 10 years. The bank is a respondent in a separate civil case.

Villavicencio said he wants to buy back his property for P60 million, the same price it fetched in 2005.

In a June 16 decision, the court stated it found sufficient ground for ordering arrest warrants against the five.

“It appears from the foregoing documents… that accused-movants incorporated several corporations for the benefit of a foreign entity,” it said.

SEC formula

But the DOJ resolution noted that for the purposes of resolving issues on investments, the department had adopted as early as 1989, a formula under the existing Securities and Exchange Commission rules and regulations for the determination of citizenship of a corporation with alien equity.

The SEC rule states that “Shares belonging to corporation or partnership at least 60 percent of the capital of which owned by the Filipino citizen shall be considered as of Philippine nationality, but the percentage of the Filipino ownership in the corporation is less than 60 percent of the number of shares corresponding to such percentage shall be counted as Philippine nationality.”

“This fact has been duly proven to a comfortable degree of satisfaction sufficient to convince this office that the law was not violated. The logical conclusion is that no violation of the Anti-Dummy Law was committed,” the DOJ resolution stated.

No violation

Lichauco said his clients had not violated any law and had complied with the SEC rule of 60-40 equity.

“No law had been violated as the transaction had the approval of the SEC and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” Lichauco said.