PDIC pays 63% or P1.43 billion to Legacy Bank depositors

MANILA, Philippines - THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) has already paid 63 percent or P1.43 billion to Legacy Bank depositors out of the approved amount of almost P2.26 billion.

PDIC president Jose Nograles said the balance of P834.3 million is still being scheduled for release.

PDIC examiners and external auditors went through the available documents to process the claims, he said.

However, Nograles noted that a total amount of P2.83 billion which represent 21,819 claims did not have enough documents.

“Depositors have been notified of documents they need to submit to substantiate their claims,” he said.

PDIC data showed that a total of 39,020 claims amounting to P4.76 billion are already being processed. Once these are validated, claimants will be sent their check payments or letters notifying them of the status of their claims.

Meanwhile, the state deposit insurer has denied payment for 4,164 claims amounting to P204.07 million because of problematic documents.

Nograles said of the denied claims, 709 claims for P78.68 million represented questionable or fictitious accounts. The remainder of 3,429 claims worth P125.4 million were claims for non-existent accounts in the Legacy banks.

A total of 19,070 claims amounting to P2.55 billion were put on hold pending further verification.

Nograles expressed confidence that all valid claims will be paid soon. PDIC has completed the examination of accounts as of end of August, resulting in the validation of 109,791 out of the total 134,653 accounts. 

In cases when the documents submitted are insufficient to validate a claim, PDIC is authorized under the law to require additional documents from the depositors to support the claim.

The Legacy Group, owned by Celso delos Angeles, through its different banks, used various schemes to siphon funds from depositors for its owners benefit.The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has filed various criminal charges against owners’ officers, employees and agents of the different banks belonging to the Legacy Group.