Ongpin to file case vs another AMLC exec

MANILA, Philippines – Businessman Roberto V. Ongpin is set to file a case against Anti Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Vicente Aquino before the Office of the Ombudsman on Monday, January 14.

Ongpin said in a statement Sunday, January 13, he would sue Aquino for violating the Anti-Graft Law when he signed an ex parte petition for a Court of Appeals freeze order in November 2012 against Ongpin and his companies.

The case against Aquino will follow one filed by Ongpin against Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla, who also signed the ex parte petition as acting AMLC chairman when BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. was away.

The CA froze 100 bank accounts linked to Ongpin in December 2012.

Aquino and Espenilla signed the petition for a freeze order after the Ombudsman in September 2012 recommended the filing of charges against Ongpin and 24 others for P660 million worth of alleged behest loan deals between his company and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) in 2009.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales has affirmed her findings this month.

Ongpin used the loans to purchase DBP-owned shares in copper-gold miner Philex Mining Corp.

The businessman said having his accounts frozen affected the market value of his shares in various publicly listed firms.

“The day the Court of Appeals accepted the petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze my accounts, on that very day, the market value of my shares lost some P3 billion,” he said.

“At the end of 2012, when 20 days had passed and the Anti-Money Laundering Council refused to lift the freeze order, the market price of my shareholdings had dropped by P8 billion. More important to me is the damage to my reputation.”

Ongpin said that he is also suing Aquino for perjury for saying under oath the following:

• The two loans obtained by Ongpin from DBP in 2009 – one worth P150 million and the other P510 million – were undercollateralized. Ongpin said however that DBP admitted that both loans were adequately collateralized by Ongpin’s PhilWeb Corp. shares.
• Ongpin caused DBP undue injury when the bank lost “opportunity profits” after it sold its 50 million Philex shares to Ongpin at P12.75 per share instead of Manny Pangilinan at P21 per share. The Office of the Ombudsman dropped the said charges of undue injury in its September 2012 resolution.
• The loans extended were behest loans. Ongpin noted that the DBP itself admitted through its complaint-affidavit that both loans were fully paid on December 8, 2009. Ongpin said that for a loan to be considered behest, it must be non-performing or in default.
• The loans violated banking laws, rules and regulations. Ongpin argued that Espenilla said in a hearing at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the Committee on Banks & Financial Institutions that DBP’s sale of 50 million Philex shares to Ongpin’s company was a “prudent” and “positive” transaction that resulted in “trading gains” for the bank.

Related stories:

• Ongpin shifting the blame: BSP
• From word war, Ongpin-BSP drama shifts to legal battle
• Ombudsman affirms order on raps vs Ongpin, DBP officials
• Ongpin vs BSP saga: Lame defense and graft case
• Word war: BSP says Ongpin is wrong, defends central bank official