Further delays in Unitrust rehabilitation seen

Once more, the ugly head of the notorious temporary restraining order (TRO) and the court injunction is slowly emerging as the shareholders of controversial Unitrust Development Bank (Unitrust) has gone to court.

At the same time, the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) will open bidding for the rehabilitation of the bank which was placed under receivership after Genta Ogami, its majority stakeholder, disappeared in the concrete jungle of Tokyo.

Present stakeholders led by Francis Yuseco, Leopoldo J. Valcarcel and lawyer Fred L. Gutierrez filed a case with the Makati Regional Trial Court claiming that the awarding by PDIC of the bank’s rehabilitation to the Philippine Bank of Commerce (PBCom) as "illegal and detrimental to the interest of the bank."

PBCom was named the winning bidder of the first public bidding exercise in late July this year.

Yuseco said that this week, they would be seeking judicial rehabilitation from the same courts "if the PDIC insists on holding another public auction."

"We will first get a TRO and then we would probably go for the judicial rehabilitation," Yuseco said in an interview.

Several legal counsels however confided that seeking the intervention of the courts for the bank’s rehabilitation would likely result in the issuance of a court injunction suspending the re-bidding process. Or if the public auction had already been held, the court could suspend or prohibit the winning bidder from undertaking the rehabilitation.

"Anyway, who would join the rebidding now after what happened to PBCom? Why would any bank want to rehabilitate much less acquire a bank that is full of problems?" they added.

Last month, the PDIC held a public auction for the rehabilitation of the bank, which was won by PBCom over two other bidder, and one of which was the group of Yuseco.

The Yuseco group claims to have entered into an agreement with First Federal Banking Corp. of Taiwan in starting a joint venture should they win the bid to rehabilitate the bank. First Federal would buy 60-percent equity while another 20-percent would be acquired by a group of Filipino investors. Yuseco said he would account for the remaining 20-percent equity.

Complicating the issue is the claim by a group in Japan that the group of Yuseco does not have any control of the bank.

A certain Tooru Nagasawa of the Nagasawa Sogo Law Office from Tokyo, Japan wrote the group of Yuseco in the middle of this month. Nagasawa claims to be a court appointed trustee of all the holdings of G. Cosmos Japan Co. Ltd., Japan G O International Co. Ltd., Minamoto Saiken Kaisha Co. Ltd., Japan G. Universal Co. Lts., Kanzaki Kyoot Kaihatan Co. Ltd., and Ogami.

G. Cosmos Phils. is the Philippine subsidiary of G. Cosmos Japan controlled then by Ogami. Ogami is reportedly under investigation in Japan for various crimes such as fraud.

In the Philippines, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against Ogami for violation of the securities code.

Nagasawa claims that the Yuseco group did not have any control over the bank, which is controlled by Ogami’s companies. The Japanese lawyer-trustee not only rebuked the group but accussed them of being dummies of Ogami. Ogami controlled 40-percent of Unitrust while the group of Yuseco and Valcarcel represented the 60-percent share thus allowing it to be considered a Filipino corporation.

If the Yuseco group continues to insist on wresting control of the bank, Nagasawa would "send all investigated documents which depicts accusations against your party under the Anti-Dummy Law of Philippine investigating body."

PDIC president Norberto C. Nazareno said they would have to launch an investigation on the Nagasawa allegations as well as the authenticity of the so-called Japanese trustee.

"We will conduct our own investigation, and we would seek the help of our government agencies to verify the facts," Nazareno added.– TPT