Vice President Jejomar Binay. FILE PHOTO
More than P600 million in cash was deposited in the bank accounts of alleged dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay in various transactions in a single day, according to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) report to the Court of Appeals (CA).
The report was part of the AMLC petition to the court to freeze 242 bank accounts, securities and insurance papers of Binay, his family and his suspected dummies, which was granted on Monday ex parte, or without hearing. It is valid for six months and is aimed at preserving assets pending investigation of corruption charges against Binay while he was mayor of Makati City, mainly stemming from the alleged overpriced Makati City Hall Building II.
Asked for comment, Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado referred the Inquirer to the letter the Vice President’s lawyer, Claro Certeza, threatening “to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law” any party that published the AMLC report and the CA order, insisting that the law mandates their confidentiality.
In the AMLC report, the amounts of P315,467,269.59, P221,436,720, P44,954,005.43 and P49,075,903.14 in cash were deposited in the various accounts of Gerardo Limlingan, Mario Oreta and Bernadette Cezar Portollano on Oct. 14, 2014.
Limlingan is reportedly the longtime financial officer of Binay.
Oreta is the president of property developer Alphaland Corp. which allegedly paid P200 million in kickbacks to Binay for a land deal in Makati for the Boy Scout of the Philippines, which the Vice President heads.
Portollano is corporate secretary of Omni Security Investigation and General Services, a security and janitorial services company, and administrator of Binay’s former company, Agrifortuna Inc.
The following day, on Oct. 15, 2014, cash deposits totaling P79,621,549.00 were also made to the alleged dummy accounts.
The AMLC report also showed that between Sept. 12 and Oct. 22, 2014, a total of P585,754,104.86 was withdrawn in over-the-counter transactions from the accounts of Limlingan and Eduviges D. Baloloy, a longtime Binay executive assistant.
The AMLC report, which became the basis of the CA freeze order, also indicated that a total of P11 billion had been recorded in the accounts of Binay, his alleged dummies and his son Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay Jr. since 2008.
The report showed that majority of the accounts bore the names of Limlingan, who was identified by former Makati Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado in the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee hearings as the person who allegedly received kickbacks for Binay when he was the Makati mayor.
Baloloy shared most of the accounts with Limlingan, with transactions amounting to as much as P70 million.
The AMLC said that Limlingan, Baloloy and other persons associated with the Vice President made “massive withdrawals of funds and pretermination of investments” soon after the subcommittee conducted hearings on the alleged overpriced Makati City parking building.
A table of transactions in the AMLC report showed that between Aug. 26 and Nov. 26, 2014, a total of P909,173,584.95 in securities under the names of Limlingan and Baloloy were sold.
Between September and December 2014, a total of P1,170,086,586.69 was transferred from their two accounts to another account.
The report also stated that P3,386,189,976.45 was withdrawn from the accounts of Binay, Limlingan and Baloloy starting Aug. 20, 2014, until January 2015.
Limlingan in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) had a monthly income of P30,000, according to the report.
Disproportionate
The report also showed that the SALN of Baloloy and Limlingan were disproportionate to the values, frequency and complexity of their banking transactions.
Some P50 million worth of investment and trust funds under their names had been preterminated. Another P565,795,485.81 representing check encashments were recorded from Aug. 22, 2014, to Jan. 12, 2015.
Withdrawals, totaling P67 million were recorded between Oct. 1 and 17, 2014, included a P10-million check on Oct. 16.
Mutual funds worth P30 million were also noted by the AMLC to have been sold on Sept. 1, 2014, under the names of Limlingan and Baloloy.
RELATED STORIES
Binays can back up wealth–Abigail