Lawyer seeks NBI probe of P1-B bank transactions

A lawyer has asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate how international export firm Marsman-Drysdale Corporation used one of his dormant companies to facilitate a series of unexplained and possibly fraudulent bank transactions worth US$21 million (around P1 billion) from 2007 to 2018.

Antero Sison Jr., owner of Oro del Mar Aquatic Resources Inc. (Odmar), told the NBI that he learned about the Marsman officials’ transactions only when he retired early this year and that he was shocked to find the staggering amount of money that passed through his company.

“I am alarmed by the magnitude of the amount deposited and withdrawn in the name of my dormant corporation which I believed might expose me to money laundering and possible tax evasion. It is for this reason that I am seeking the help of your office to immediately investigate these transactions in order to make those responsible punished,” Sison said in a letter dated May 17.

“I am seriously concerned that these transactions could possibly be illegal, fraudulent and/or done with criminal intent, in breach and abuse done with criminal intent, in breach and abuse of my trust and confidence when I allowed them to use my corporation for legitimate purposes,” he added.

Sison said he executed a waiver on the bank accounts so the NBI can conduct a thorough investigation.

Lawyer Nathaniel Ramos, officer in charge of the NBI’s antigraft division, said a probe was underway and that those named by Sison were asked to submit their counteraffidavits.

He said the bank was also asked to submit the transaction records of the accounts in question.

But Marsman, in a statement to the Inquirer, called Santos’ claim “wild and false” and said it would cooperate with the NBI in its investigation.

“The Marsman Group of Companies has acted and will always act within the strict confines of the law. In fact, this is what our lawyer of over 40 years, Atty. Antero Sison Jr., has always assured Marsman, its board of directors and officers regarding the transactions he now casts doubt on,’’ Marsman said.

“It is thus surprising and shocking that after Atty. Sison was separated from Marsman this year, he started making these wild and false accusations against the very corporations where he was no less than president, board member and tax counsel,” it added.

Sison said Odmar was incorporated as a family corporation in 1987 to operate a farm in Cadiz, Negros Occidental, that exported prawn to Japan. He said he stopped Odmar’s operations in 1995 because he could not compete with prawn farms in neighboring Asian countries that were subsidized by their governments.

Sison said Odmar was incorporated as a family corporation in 1987 which he and his wife used to operate a prawn farm in Cadiz, Negros Occidental for export to the Japanese market. In 1995, Sison said he stopped Odmar’s operations because he could not compete with prawn farms in neighboring Asian countries that were subsidized by their governments.

Sison said Odmar became inactive and dormant until Marsman’s vice president, Eduardo B. Castillo asked him in late 2007 “if I had a corporation which was inactive that he could use to facilitate transactions without directly involving the Marsman Drysdale Group of Companies and its affiliates.’’

“In good faith, I consented to Mr. Castillo’s request to have Odmar used to facilitate these transactions, on the assumption that the transactions would be legitimate and would not expose me or my dormant corporation to any government investigation,” Sison said.

Sison was president of Marsman from 2006 until January 2018 when he retired. That was when he asked the Marsman officials to return Odmar and its documents to him.

On its company website, Marsman Drysdale Group described itself as a “diversified Philippine-based synergy of companies with interests in the export of agribusiness products, medical equipment, travel and tourism, and mining.” The firm has businesses located in Metro Manila, the Bicol region, Davao del Norte and Guimaras with a 3,000-strong workforce.

Marsman said it is known internationally for its export-quality bananas, with its 1,000-hectare farm in Davao having produced the local industry’s highest production record of 6,000 million boxes in 1999. Marsman also has a mango plantation n Guimaras and is only one of two major producers of asparagus in the country.

Sison said after he agreed, Castillo instructed Marsman-Drysdale lawyer Enrique Dimaano to prepare secretary’s certificates for the opening of three foreign currency accounts in the name of Odmar with the Bank of Philippine Islands in Ayala-Paseo branch.

Sison, in his affidavit, said the authorized signatories, were himself as Odmar president; Castillo, and Jesus Pedro S. Adan II, vice president and chief financial officer. Another Marsman officer, Emily A. Medina, was named Odmar representative authorized to confirm check deposits and other transactions. He said another account was opened at BPI, with another Marsman officer Dorothy Isabel Drysdale as additional signatory.

Sison said the secretary’s certificates were not supported by any minutes of meetings or resolutions of the board.

However, in more than 70 bank transactions that took place from 2007 to 2018, Marsman-Drysdale never informed Sison what the transactions were about.

Sison said when he retired from Marsman early this year, he asked Dimaano to return to him all the records of Odmar. But Dimaano did not turn over records of the BPI transactions.

“I had to make a personal request myself to the – branch for copies of records of transactions involving these – accounts. When I reviewed the transactions made – I was shocked to discover that from 2007 to 2018, there were approximately US$21 million remitted into the accounts, in which substantial amounts encashed by Ms. Emily Medina, some funds transferred to the other accounts, and some converted for deposit to the peso current accounts,” Sison said.

Sison said that since Castillo and Adan were senior Marsman officers, he “can only surmise that the instructions given by them to the foreign banks to remit the US dollars into the FCDU BPI accounts in the name of Odmar were made upon orders of the chairman of Marsman, Mr. George M. Drysdale, who has the sole authority to decide financial matters concerning the Marsman Group of Companies.

Sison said he was “totally unaware of where the funds remitted to the BPI accounts of Odmar came from’’ and that he had no knowledge of who got the funds from the accounts.

He said neither he nor his wife ever received any compensation for allowing Odmar to be used by the Marsman officials.

Sison asked the NBI to “investigate the nature and purpose of these financial transactions, and to clear myself of any civil or criminal liabilities’’ if the transactions turned out to be fraudulent.

“I executed a waiver so that the NBI can investigate,’’ Sison told the Inquirer.