Ogami used illegal money to buy Unitrust — former bank exec

Former Unitrust Development Bank chairman and president Kensuke Inoue admitted yesterday that controversial Japanese cult leader Genta Ogami used illegal funds to acquire the bank.

In a press briefing, Inoue said Ogami, who heads G. Cosmos Japan and G. Cosmos Philippines, raised money through unauthorized sale of securities as well as through the controversial mail-order scheme both in Japan and in the Philippines.

He said G. Cosmos Japan sold corporate bonds to Japanese investors, an act which Inoue described as "illegal because the bonds were not registered with the authorities." The bond sale generated some ¥2 billion (roughly P800 million), the former chairman said in broken English.

Unitrust was acquired for P505 million from its original owners led by former Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) president Jose Luis Yulo.

Ogami reportedly held a press conference in Tokyo the other week saying that he was filing charges of fraud on Yulo and Inoue.

"The first thing Ogami told me to do when he installed me as the chairman and president was to loan him P170 million," Inoue said. The said loan was without collateral and it was rejected by the board.

The balance was supposed to have been used in other shady transactions in Indonesia or Taiwan, or to pay Japanese investors. Ogami heads G. O. Equities International, which serves as his holding company. Among his companies are G. Cosmos Japan, G. Cosmos Philippines, G. Universal Japan, Minamoto Saiken Kaishu Co. Ltd., G. Cosmos Indonesia, and G. Cosmos Taiwan. Inoue was part of G. Cosmos Indonesia before moving to the Philippines.

Unitrust declared last Jan. 2 a bank holiday and its was subsequently placed under receivership by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC). It reportedly had P17 million in cash deposits, P10 million in Treasury bills, $100,000 in dollar deposits, and 18,000 deposit accounts when it closed.

Inoue said he immediately reported the problem of the bank with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) after he resigned from both G. Cosmos Philippines and Unitrust Bank in early October 2001.

However, BSP authorities were unable to take any action as they first sought the advice of and additional information regarding Ogami from the Japanese embassy in the Philippines.

However, the Japanese embassy had no information on Ogami save for a news clipping regarding charges of fraud linked to the mail-order business. He was never indicated for lack of evidence.

By the time Unitrust Bank declared a holiday, sources said Ogami had left the country. Unconfirmed reports indicate that he has successfully established G. Cosmos Taiwan doing the type of mail-order operations.

Asked why he (Inoue) decided to talk to the media only after more than three months, he said that "I have a family in the Philippines. If I do something wrong, I would be deported back to Japan and I would not be able to be with my family."

He would not categorically say that Ogami was involved in money laundering activities, but said there were a lot of (Ogami) activities that he could not explain.

His statement was somewhat corroborated by Takashi Yosioka, one of the accountants of G.O. Equities. But due to language problems, he could not make a complete account of the things he knows.

G. Cosmos Philippines has been permanently closed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for selling securities in the international market without the necessary authority.