Bank exec going to jail

A former bank executive has been sentenced to jail time for funneling depositors’ cash to his pockets using nonexistent borrowers, regulators said last week.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Pepito Miradora Cilos, former president of the Rural Bank of Milaor (Camarines Sur) Inc., was found guilty and sentenced by the 5th Municipal Trial Court of Camaligan-Gainza-Milaor, Camarines Sur.

Cilos faces up to three years in prison for falsification of commercial documents and making false statements.

The cases arose from four loans totaling P6.5 million made by the bank in May 2008.  The BSP’s Office of Special Investigation found that the loans were questionable and fraudulent.

The borrowers identified by the bank could not be found in the addresses in the loan documents; the land title securing one of the loans was questionable, and the land titles used as collateral for three of the loans were issued a few months after the loans were granted.

The loan documents were also haphazardly processed and resulted in deficient documentation, and the reference numbers of the community tax certificates of the borrowers appearing in the loan documents were not issued by the municipalities concerned.  Paolo G. Montecillo