RP prosecutors open mystery bank records
RP prosecutors open mystery bank records
MANILA (AP): Prosecutors in Philippine President Joseph Estrada's impeachment trial obtained handwriting samples on Wednesday that they say will prove the leader spent millions of dollars in graft money under a false name.
The samples consist of six signatures in documents for an account at Equitable PCI Bank that prosecutors claim Estrada used to write a $2.8-million check to buy a mansion for one of his mistresses.
Estrada denies he used the account or owns the mansion, which was bought with funds from the account, but says it belongs to a friend.
Prosecutors plan to call as a witness at least one handwriting expert to try proving that the documents, signed "Jose Velarde," were actually signed by Estrada.
The person who signed the documents did not fill in other information slots on the bank records, such as address, occupation, nationality or the sum of the initial deposit.
The signature card, a sheet that account holders must sign several times for future signature verification, was stamped "dormant," meaning it had not been used for some time.
A prosecutor said the signature on a microfilm copy of the $2.8-million check appeared to be different from signatures on other documents from the same account.
The documents also show Velarde was introduced to the bank by a person with the initials G.L.G.
Prosecutors said the initials could be those of George L. Go, who stepped down on Tuesday as chairman of the bank, saying he wanted to eliminate speculation that it was involved in wrongdoing of any kind.
Go, a friend of Estrada, also resigned last month as a trustee of a scholarship foundation for Muslim youth, which prosecutors claim Estrada used as a front to cover up payoffs.
Estrada is on trial on counts of bribery, graft, betrayal of public trust and violating the constitution. A guilty verdict by two-thirds of the 22-member Senate on any of the four counts would force him from office.
Jaime Dichaves, a prominent businessman, has said he holds the Velarde account. Dichaves, a close friend of Estrada, did not say why he opened the account under a different name and has not said if the signatures were his.
In other testimony in the trial's tenth day Wednesday, a witness said Estrada directly ordered a government agency to grant a personal favor to a gambling buddy.
Rufo Colayco, the former president of Clark Development Corp., a government agency which runs an industrial free trade zone north of Manila, said Estrada asked him to give a license to operate a gas station to a personal friend, businessman Lucio Co, despite competition for the license.
Colayco also said that he was fired by Estrada one day after arguing with Co over how much rent a casino owned by Co would pay the agency.
The impeachment trial centers on testimony by Luis Singson, the governor of Ilocos Sur province and a reputed gambling boss. Singson, a former gambling and drinking buddy of the president, accuses Estrada of taking more than 400 million pesos ($8 million) in bribes from illegal gambling lords and skimming 130 million pesos in tax revenues intended for tobacco farmers.
Also Wednesday, officials said three of Estrada's closest Cabinet aides will resign to run in next year's general elections.
Cabinet Executive Secretary Ronaldo Zamora said he will resign by the end of this year and at least two other Cabinet officials, Interior Secretary Alfredo Lim and Press Secretary Ricardo Puno, will also resign to run in the polls.
The three Cabinet members have staunchly defended Estrada.