P189-M kickbacks all lies — Estrada

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Ousted President Joseph Estrada branded yesterday as lies claims by government probers that he took P189.7 million in kickbacks from two state pension agencies and used the money to acquire stocks in the franchise holder of jai alai.

Estrada, who arrived in this city with his wife Luisa Ejercito, challenged the government to prove the charges in court and "not spread black propaganda in order to initiate another hate campaign."

"These are all lies that they are propagating. They have not been proven at all," Estrada said.

The other day, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said Estrada used more than P1 billion in funds from the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System to buy stocks in Belle Corp. Under GSIS and SSS rules, the two agencies can buy shares of stock in companies with registered earnings over the past three years.

Perez has said former SSS president and chairman Carlos Arellano and former GSIS general manager and president Federico Pascual have signed their respective statements as potential prosecution witnesses in the new plunder charges to be filed against Estrada.

In a related development, the Department of Justice said it will defer its investigation on the BW Resources price manipulation scandal due to "loose ends" in the suit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Nilo Mariano said members of the DOJ panel and their counterparts in the SEC will have to discuss missing details in the 16-page complaint, the third report filed by the commission on the scandal.

Mariano pointed out that in one instance the SEC merely listed the names of brokers and brokerage firms that may have violated the securities law but failed to specify the charges.

"The third report is lacking in details. The two reports earlier filed were actually even better," he said.

The original complaint had named as principal respondent BW majority stockholder Dante Tan, a close friend of Estrada. Some 140 individuals and firms were included in the new SEC complaint.

Among those included in the latest version were Tan’s lawyer Agnes Maranan, Oscar de Venecia, Jose Guingona, Eduardo Lim Jr., Jimmy Juan, Lucio Co, Ramon Lee and Carmelo Santiago.

The SEC said the respondents were liable for hyping the stock, cross trades, insider trading, matched orders, abuse in the use of private placements, equity trade and done-through-transactions.

All of the charges, except for hyping the stock and cross trades, were earlier dismissed by the DOJ for lack of evidence. Only the price manipulation suit was filed in a Pasig court against Tan, Juan and Lim.

Juan was held liable for non-disclosure of substantial ownership of BW shares while Lim for violation of the broker-director rule.

The DOJ filed the price manipulation charges last December before Pasig Judge Briccio Ygaña.

Perez said the 1999 stock manipulation scandal should be investigated thoroughly because it nearly brought the local market "to its knees."

"The complaint against Tan is not a simple case. It is more serious than a mere violation of the Securities Code. It was grand scale manipulation. The downfall of the market could have resulted in the downfall of the economy," the DOJ chief said. – With Delon Porcalla