Vice President Jejomar Binay. CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
When he was mayor of Makati City, Vice President Jejomar Binay was working with billionaires: his finance officer Gerardo “Gerry” Limlingan and longtime secretary Eduviges “Ebeng” Baloloy, according to the report submitted by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to the Court of Appeals (CA) on May 7.
Limlingan and Baloloy are not related, but the AMLC found that besides individual bank accounts they also had joint accounts.
From 2007 to 2014, they had cash and checking accounts that contained at least P810 million in deposits and P1.629 billion in investment management funds in different banks.
The AMLC report also showed that Limlingan had joint accounts with Binay and with other alleged dummies of the Vice President and that the joint accounts also contained hundreds of millions of pesos in deposits.
The accounts of Limlingan and Baloloy were found in BDO Unibank, Metrobank, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., Land Bank of the Philippines, Security Bank, Philippine Bank of Communications and Philippine Savings Bank.
Multimillion deposits
The AMLC report said the accounts contained billions of pesos in deposits.
A table of transactions prepared by the AMLC showed the biggest amount deposited to the pair’s account at BDO Unibank was P100 million. The deposit was made on Dec. 22, 2009.
Less than a month after that, on Jan. 18, 2010, P50 million was deposited in another joint account of Limlingan and Baloloy in the same bank, the AMLC said.
There were smaller deposits but these were also in the millions. The smaller deposits were made between bulk deposits, the report said.
The table of transactions also showed that two or three deposits were made to the different accounts of Limlingan and Baloloy in a single day.
On March 3, 2010, a total of P77 million was deposited in Baloloy’s account at BDO Unibank, the report said.
Two weeks earlier, on Feb. 23, 2010, P40 million was deposited in another joint account of Limlingan and Baloloy, it said.
‘AMLC wrong’
Sought for comment on Saturday, Joey Salgado, Binay’s spokesperson, declined to discuss the AMLC findings about Limlingan and Baloloy and instead referred the Inquirer to a press statement issued by Limlingan’s lawyer Grace Reyes.
In the statement, Reyes denied the contents of the AMLC report, saying Limlingan was a legitimate businessman.
Referring to the AMLC report of fund transfers to Canada, Reyes said the US dollar transfers from Philippine to Canadian banks between 2008 and 2014 involved legitimate transactions with third parties, including payments to Canadian market research firm.
Transfers to Canada’s firms
In an earlier statement, Salgado said the money transfers to three Canadian research firms—Synovate, Synovate Ltd. and David Rink Consultancies—were legal.
“Had [the] AMLC bothered to do a simple Google check, they would have known that these companies are legitimate market research companies. They were paid for services rendered,” Salgado said.
He said Binay began to tap the services of the three research firms in 2008 to measure his popularity, two years before the 2010 elections.
Disproportionate to incomes
The AMLC report said Limlingan and Baloloy made bank transactions much larger than their earlier transactions.
Some of these transactions, the report said, amounted to hundreds of millions of pesos with one amounting to more than P1 billion.
The values of the transactions were disproportionate to the incomes of Limlingan and Baloloy, the report said.
“It is inconceivable for a secretary of VP Binay to derive the funds from her lawful and declared income,” the report said, referring to Baloloy.
“Neither is it reasonable that Limlingan, who in 2011 and 2012 declared a monthly income of no more than P30,000, would have the resources to conduct high-value deposits and transactions,” the report said.
“Their only link is VP Binay,” the report said.
The AMLC submitted the report to the CA on behalf of the Office of the Ombudsman, which is investigating allegations of corruption against Binay and his son, Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay, and had asked the court to freeze their bank accounts and those of the Vice President’s business associates and alleged dummies.
Accounts frozen
On May 11, the court ordered 242 bank accounts frozen, including Binay’s and those of his wife, Elenita, Mayor Binay, Limlingan, Baloloy and several other associates and alleged dummies for the Vice President.
It all began with allegations of corruption being thrown at the Vice President last year at a Senate blue ribbon subcommittee inquiry into the alleged overpricing of the construction of Makati City Hall Building II.
According to the AMLC report, Limlingan and Baloloy began to empty their bank accounts after the Senate inquiry opened in August last year.
They started selling securities, making interaccount transfers, preterminating their time deposits, investment placements and cashing checks.
They also made large withdrawals, which amounted to P160,042,173.03.
On Sept. 26, 2014, Limlingan made an over-the-counter withdrawal from RCBC Palanca of P57,745,796.62, the report said.
Why joint accounts?
“These investments, along with those in other accounts, were preterminated, sold or withdrawn in bulk since Aug. 20, 2014, or at the start of the hearing, likely calculated to disperse funds and layer transactions to evade liability,” the AMLC report said.
The AMLC also reported that it found no reason why Limlingan and Baloloy should maintain joint accounts and conduct high-value and frequent bank transactions when they had no business or professional relationship.
Like Binay’s accounts, the pair’s individual and joint accounts could have originated from unlawful activities, the AMLC said in its report.
“Given the unusual linking of circumstances, the funds transacted in Limlingan’s and Baloloy’s accounts originated from unlawful activities, particularly the construction of the Makati [City Hall Building II],” the AMLC report said.
“These transactions show that they themselves do not own the transacted funds, which are derived from unlawful sources,” the report said.
Cited for contempt
Limlingan and Baloloy have not appeared in the Senate investigation despite summons. The two have been cited for contempt for ignoring the subpoenas issued for them.
Authorities say, however, that they now know the whereabouts of the two.
Limlingan has two addresses in the AMLC report, one on A. Luna Street in Pasay City and another on Bagtikan Street in San Antonio village in Makati City.
Baloloy’s last known address is on Arellano Street, West Rembo village, in Makati.
The bank accounts of Baloloy’s relatives, Francisco, Frederick and Jennifer Baloloy, were also ordered frozen by the CA.
Also ordered frozen by the court were accounts of Limlingan’s relatives Marguerite Lichnock, Melissa Gay Castañeda Limlingan, Victor Limlingan and Patricia Padua. With a report from Niña P. Calleja
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