UnionBank probes possible P17-M theft by employee

MANILA, Philippines – Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is conducting its own investigation into an alleged P17-million fraud incident involving one of its employees.

UnionBank, during its routine checking, found out that a bank officer made an unauthorized cash transfer last Friday, June 30, amounting to P17.03 million from its cash center in Ortigas, Pasig City to its cash center in Caloocan City.

The bank officer under investigation was identified as Mariebel Osorio, 41, a cash unit head at a UnionBank branch in Ortigas.

“To mitigate the situation, the bank has already handed the case to the proper authorities for a more thorough investigation. Along with this, the bank is also conducting a rigorous internal probe to know the extent of the issue,” UnionBank said in a statement on Monday, July 3.

“Importantly, this incident is not involved in any way with cyber security or cyber crime,” the bank added.

Osorio was arrested in Barangay San Antonio, Pasig City.

“UnionBank always follows the highest level of security, audit, and transparency standards. Rest assured that we will share as much information as we can after this is verified from our end,” the bank said in the statement.

With customer loans rising faster than deposits, the Aboitiz-led bank saw its net income register an all-time high of P10.1 billion in 2016.

The bank’s total loans also jumped by 31% to P235.4 billion, resulting in total assets breaching the half-trillion-peso mark, to close 2016 at P524.4 billion.

UnionBank’s total deposits grew by 21% to P376.5 billion, with low-cost CASA increasing by 18%. – Rappler.com