Pols urged to stay away from Senate probe on money laundering

Senator Franchis “Chiz” Escudero. FILE PHOTO BY ARNOLD ALMACEN/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DIGOS CITY—Sen. Francis Escudero on Monday said politicians should stay away from the investigation of the $81-million money-laundering scandal as their participation could bring more harm than good.

“Today is election season and many senators, especially those running [for reelection] are joining the investigation. We (Poe’s camp) have not dipped our fingers into it because we believe that we should not wash our dirty linen in public,” Escudero told reporters here.

The Senate blue ribbon committee is looking into the $81 million stolen by hackers from the account of the Bangladesh central bank  in the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The funds were sent to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., deposited in five accounts, converted into pesos, transferred into casinos and finally moved out of the Philippines.

Investigators don’t know where the funds went overseas.

The blue ribbon committee is chaired by Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, a reelectionist.

Other reelectionist senators who took part in the two hearings the committee on the money-laundering case recently conducted so far were Senators Sergio Osmeña III, Ralph Recto and Vicente Sotto III.

Escudero, running mate of Sen. Grace Poe, said the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) were capable of conducting the investigation, which is why politicians should stay away from it.

“The central bank and AMLC should be left to investigate the issue on  their own because I believe they can do it right. I also don’t believe that we should make the investigation public, that we should point at how  weak our banking system is (before the public) because our credit rating and standing in the global financial community will be affected,” he said.

Escudero noted that in other countries, similar scandals also happened but investigations were not made public because they really affected one country’s reputation.

If other politicians could not help it, they have to be careful and think of what the repercussions would be, said the vice presidential candidate.

“I hope that in the coming days, the central bank, the Senate and the AMLC would be more circumspect in their pronouncements because it will not only make our banking industry suffer but our overseas workers as well. Remittance fees could increase,” Escudero said.

“Our reputation is at stake here,” he added.