CJ Renato Corona had 82 Dollar Accounts

CJ Renato Corona withdrew over $418K on day he was impeached, says Carpio-Morales. Chief Justice Renato Corona had at least $10 million in “transactional balances” in 82 US dollar accounts in 5 banks, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales revealed Monday.

Carpio Morales said there were “significant deposits and withdrawals on various significant dates including the 2004 and 2007 elections as well as the week he was impeached specifically December 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, and 22, 2011.”

She said that on December 12, 2011, the day he was impeached, Corona pre-terminated a US dollar time deposit account amounting to $418,193.32 and then added to another bank in BPI San Francisco del Monte.

She said that from this amount, $417,978.80 was deducted from this account and placed in a regular trust fund placement.

“I listed all the different accounts. I classified them under one column. After grouping different accounts under one column, I got the dates the transactions occurred. I got the amounts the transaction occurred. But since I noticed that there were some accounts which were deposited in, let's say, A account, example P100,000, but on the same day, the P100,000 were withdrawn in 3 branches and transferred to 3 different accounts X, Y, Z, I had a bit of difficulty trying to analyze,” she said.

82 accounts, 423 transactions

She said the number of dollar accounts, from which transactions were made over the years, grew to 82 in 2011.

These are:

Bank of Philippines Islands (BPI) San Francisco del Monte - 34

BPI Tandang Sora - 18

BPI Acropolis - 8

BPI Management Investment Corp - 1

Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) Cainta - 8

PSBank Katipunan - 6

Allied Bank Corp. Kamias - 4

Deutsche - 2

Citibank – 1

Asked what a transactional balance is, Carpio Morales said these are “fresh deposits.”

She said she asked the Commission on Audit (COA), in particular Commissioner Heidi Mendoza and COA Chairman Grace Pulido Tan, to help her with her own mathematical evaluation.

Her evidence came from a document provided to her by Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Vicente Aquino.

Mendoza herself later took the stand, but her presence was questioned by the defense. Lead defense counsel Serafin Cuevas said she was never presented as a witness.

Carpio Morales tried to explain the “inflow and outflow” of some amounts in several accounts via a PowerPoint presentation. Cuevas opposed such a presentation, noting Carpio-Morales was never privy as to how the AMLC arrived at the amounts.

Summarizing for Carpio Morales, Mendoza said their studies showed 423 transactions for all 82 accounts. There are four major accounts that spawned baby accounts, she said.

The total inflows, Mendoza said, reached $28,740,497.93, and total outflow totaled $30,758,878.71.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Renato Corona's Dollar Account

A spokeswoman of Chief Justice Renato Corona's defense team on Friday said Malacañang should not meddle with Corona's dollar accounts because it is not a crime to own one.

Atty. Karen Jimeno said President Aquino cannot dictate on Corona whether or not he can have a dollar account. This, after the President challenged Corona on Friday to present information on his dollar accounts if he has nothing to hide.

Jimeno said the money in Corona's dollar accounts were part of his savings before he became Chief Justice. Then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo appointed Corona as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in April 2002. She named him chief justice in May 2010.

Jimeno said the defense, when they present their witnesses, will have a chance to explain the accounts of Corona.

On Thursday, the SC voted 8-5 to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) from releasing records of Corona's alleged foreign currency deposits.

Under the Foreign Currency Deposit Act, a disclosure of foreign currency bank accounts can only be made upon written permission from the depositor.

The senator-judges have scheduled a caucus on February 13, Monday at 11 a.m. to discuss the SC order.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, meanwhile, warned the Senate against deferring to the SC order stopping the opening of Corona's dollar deposits.

"It won't stop. Ngayon foreign currency deposits. Nagpaparinig na ang defense, sabi nila even in the peso accounts, they are going to say 'It's a fishing expedition.' What will stop them now from going to the SC and say 'Your honors, the peso accounts, while it has been revealed, was a product of the fruit of the poisonous tree.' That's another question of law. The SC will say, 'Teka, we have jurisdiction. We are going to rule on that.'

"They will emasculate every order of the Senate. That is why it is untenable for the Senate to consider to even defer to the Supreme Court even in interlocutory orders because the basis is grave abuse of discretion. E kung sa final judgment sabihin nila may grave abuse of discretion, di paano na?"

Source: ABS-CBNNews.com