10 bankers liable for $34.7m scandal

10 bankers liable for $34.7m scandal

MANILA (AFP): The Philippines' justice department said yesterday it would prosecute five bank employees and five top officials of a bankrupt securities trading firm for fraud in connection with a 938 million peso (US$34.7 million) securities trading scandal.

Justice Secretary Franklin Drilon told a news conference he has ordered state prosecutors to conduct a pre-trial investigation of the five Bank of Commerce employees and five Bancapital Development Corp. (Bancap) officials.

Under Philippine judicial procedures, state prosecutors are empowered to subpoena respondents for hearings not lasting more than 60 days to determine whether there is ample ground for the filing of criminal charges against them in court.

Drilon said the five, Marilyn Nite, Nunelon Bradley, Victoria Magalona, Harry San Luis and Virgilio Bruno of Bancap and Bank of Commerce senior manager Eugene Yang, along with four employees detailed with the bank's domestic operations, were liable for 167 million pesos in undelivered treasury bills.

Ordinary fraud is punishable by a maximum jail term of eight years, but Drilon said he has ordered prosecutors to have them prosecuted under a presidential decree that punishes fraud with life imprisonment if the swindle is "committed by a syndicate consisting of five or more persons formed with the intention of carrying out the unlawful or illegal act."