Equitable official testifies Ricaforte opened 5 accounts

Yolanda Ricaforte, the alleged auditor of jueteng protection money said to have been collected for President Estrada, opened accounts with five Equitable PCIBank branches, a bank official revealed yesterday at Mr. Estrada’s impeachment trial.

Equitable PCIBank first vice president Annie Ngo said Ricaforte opened accounts with the bank’s branches in Diliman, Quezon Avenue-Scout Albano and Timog-Scout Tobias all in Quezon City, and Pedro Gil-Robinson’s and T.M. Kalaw-Luneta branches in Manila.

Ricaforte also opened an account with PCI Savings Bank, the commercial bank’s thrift subsidiary, Ngo added.

Meanwhile, sources told The STAR that there is now intense pressure on Equitable PCIBank chairman and close presidential associate George Go to resign from the bank’s board of directors within the next few days.

The banking community was buzzing yesterday with rumors that Go had already resigned from the bank’s board but several bank executives, including senior vice president Elbert Zosa, denied that Go had already stepped down.

Go’s family controls about 27 to 30 percent of the bank while state pension funds Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) control 23 and 12 percent., respectively.

SSS chief actuarian Horace Templo also denied Go’s reported resignation and said the bank is only being victimized by negative rumors because of its "inadvertent" role in the jueteng scandal.

Equitable PCIBank was allegedly made the depository bank, allegedly at the behest of Mr. Estrada, for most of the protection money Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson allegedly collected for the President.

Ngo testified that Ricaforte made an initial deposit of P17.21 million for current account No. 0107-00638-9 and savings account No. 0157-004227-0, both with the bank’s Timog-Scout Tobias branch.

She said that Ricaforte deposited money amounting to P97,998,734.27 under those two account numbers, including interest, but Ricaforte withdrew P91 million in the form of Cashier’s Check No. 0107-13064.

The prosecution had earlier claimed that the P91 million was among the six cashier’s checks, totaling P200 million, that Ricaforte had given to Mr. Estrada’s personal lawyer Eduardo Serapio.

The prosecution likewise claimed that Serapio later deposited the P200 million in a bank account under the name of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation.

House Prosecutor and Misamis Oriental Rep. Oscar Moreno said they presented Ngo to prove that Ricaforte received the six cashier’s checks totaling P200 million which were later given to Serapio.

Singson had earlier testified that the President introduced him to Ricaforte for the purpose of auditing all collections from jueteng and the operations of the Fontainbleu casino project.

The House prosecutors also called on broadcast journalist Jay Sonza to testify that President Estrada knew about the P200 million from Singson and that the President knew it was received by Serapio.

Sonza said that he interviewed the President over AM radio station dzRH on Nov. 9 and Nov. 13 and that the President said he asked Serapio not to touch the P200 million because he was suspicious of its source.

Sonza also quoted the President as saying that Singson insisted on giving Mr. Estrada the P200 million but the President declined. Sonza testified that the President later told him that he did not know Singson had given the amount to Serapio. – With reports from Marianne Go