Deguito admits lying in money laundering probe

Maia Santos-Deguito. INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

Maia Santos-Deguito, the former branch manager of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), has admitted lying just to conceal the personalities involved in the alleged $81 million money laundering scheme.

Testifying at the ongoing investigation of the Senate blue ribbon committee on Tuesday, Deguito said it was casino junket operator Kim Wong who instructed her to transfer the money from the accounts of four depositors to the account of Centurytex Trading owned by William Go.

The alleged stolen funds were transmitted to the accounts of certain Michael Francisco Cruz, Jessie Christopher Lagrosas, Enrico Teodoro Vasquez and Alfred Santos Vergara before they were transferred to Go’s account.

“Sino nag-instruct na i-transfer lahat po ng mga pera (sa accounts noong apat) sa account ni Mr. William Go?” Senator Sergio “Serge” Osmeña III asked the former branch manager.

(Who instructed you to transfer all the money from the accounts of the four individuals to the account of Mr. William Go?)

“Si Mr. Kim Wong po (It was Mr. Kim Wong [who instructed me]),” Deguito said, adding that she could not also understand why Wong would order the transfer of the money to the account of Go.

Wong is a junket casino operator and one of the key personalities tagged in the controversy.

“Sinasabi mo sya ho (Wong) ang nag-utos sa iyo (You are telling us that Wong instructed you), who do you expect the committee to believe?” Osmeña said.

“Alam mo, yung may-ari ng accounts yung apat (You know that the four individuals own the accounts). Theoretically, if they exist, the owners of the four accounts…should have been the ones telling you, giving you instructions. Bakit tumatanggap ka ng instructions kay Mr. Wong (Why did you receive instructions from Mr. Wong)?”

Deguito explained that it was Wong, who referred the four account holders and that the junket operator “acted as their authorized representatives to inquire balances and instruct me for further instructions.”

However, RCBC’s legal chief Maria Celia Estavillo contradicted Deguito’s claim.

“Your honor, it’s not allowed. There are no documents to support what she’s saying,” Estavillo said.

“And in fact, your honor, in her letter to us, she categorically told us that it was Mr. Lagrosas who gave her instructions on the transfer of funds to Mr. William Go so she’s contradicting her own written statement to the bank,” she added.

Asked by Osmeña why she gave a different statement to the bank, Deguito said: “Noong panahon na yun hindi pa po ako handang magsalita kung sino po yung mga referrals ng accounst, sino ba yung mga taong kausap ko kaya yun po ang naging ganun advice ng abogado.”

(At that time, I was not prepared to reveal the identities of the the referrals of the accounts and who were the people involved [in the controversy] so my lawyer advised me [to say that Mr. Lagrosas gave me instructions]. )

READ: Ex-RCBC branch head: ‘I am but a pawn…’

“You did not want to name Mr. Kim Wong? That’s what you’re saying? And you’d lie and say it was Mr. Lagrosas, who gave you the order. Ganun ba (Is that so)?”

“Yes, your honor,” Deguito said.

“You’re now saying that it was not Mr. Lagrosas, who gave you orders to transfer it to the account of (Mr. Go)?” the senator asked again.

“Yes, your honor, it was really Mr. Wong who instructed me,” she said.

“So you were lying to your own head office?” Osmeña said.

And when Deguito tried to repeat her explanation, the senator cut her off and told her: “No, don’t give us the excuse for lying.”

“If you will consider that lying, Sir, yes, I would acknowledge,”  Deguito answered. RAM

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