PDIC files criminal charges vs. 3 ex-Delmont Bank execs

MANILA — Three ex-officers of the shuttered Rural Bank of San Jose Del Monte Inc. or Delmont Bank are facing criminal charges filed by the state-run Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).

In a statement Monday, PDIC identified the former Delmont Bank officers slapped with charges before the Department of Justice last Jan. 6 as follows: Wilfredo Olaguer, former president; Lerma P. Torres, former vice president for finance; and Rossana L. Aljon, former vice president for marketing.

Delmont Bank was placed under PDIC receivership in 2013.

The PDIC said the respondents were charged with qualified theft as well as fraudulent disposal of assets “for the unlawful taking of six certificates of titles covering real and other properties acquired of Delmont Bank with an estimated aggregate value of P33.22 million.”

“These properties were deliberately removed from the books to avoid detection by the bank regulators,” the PDIC claimed.

It cited that fraudulent disposal of assets violated the PDIC charter under Republic Act No. 3591, as amended.

PDIC’s complaint alleged that it “came to know of this scheme in Delmont Bank when one of the bank’s depositors reported that the respondents offered to sell to him ‘off-book’ assets of the closed bank two days after bank closure.”

“The respondents allegedly assured the depositor that PDIC, the liquidator of the closed bank, will not be able to trace the assets because these have been removed from the books of the closed bank and the deeds of sale to be entered into will be antedated to protect the buyers in case of resale,” it claimed.  SFM