BW probe not yet over

The four charges already filed against those suspected of manipulating the price of BW Resources stocks more than two years ago do not spell the end of the government’s probe on the controversial scam.

In fact, the government is still looking deeper into the case to see if they can charge suspected stock manipulators with syndicated estafa, a non-bailable offense.

Assistant Chief State prosecutor Nilo Mariano, who heads a five-man panel investigating the scam, said they are just waiting for more evidence from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before filing a syndicated estafa charge against alleged stock manipulators, including BW Resources principals and their accomplices.

"We have to come up with more persons who may have been prejudiced by the price manipulation scam. There’s no evidence yet but that will be pursued later," Mariano said.

Justice Undersecretary Manuel Teehankee earlier said that they are pursuing the syndicated estafa charge so as to give justice to those who may have lost money as a result of the stock manipulation scam.

"For employing such a fraudulent scheme that deceived legitimate investors in BW shares, they should be subjected to further investigation in order to determine and specify the damages suffered by the investing public," he said.

Mariano has provided the media with a 10-page resolution that contained the results of their initial investigation and the four charges they filed against Dante Tan, a known crony of ousted President Joseph Estrada, and seven stock brokers believed to be responsible for manipulating the BW stock price.

In the resolution, the prosecutors directly accused Tan and the others of "tricking and deceiving numerous investors into buying BW shares only to lose their investments." The scam, they added, caused damage to the stock market in general.

Tan and the seven have been charged of "washing sales, matching orders, marking the close and abuse of the stock market trade facility" before the Pasig Regional Trial Court last week.

A P1-million bail has been recommended for each of them and the Bureau of Immigration has been asked to issue an order banning the accused from leaving the country.

Mariano also said that aside from the syndicated estafa charge, the government is also looking at another case to be filed against 140 stock brokers who are widely believed to have benefited from the BW scam.

He said they just prioritized Tan and the seven, all known to be principals of BW, but the 140 brokers will be indicted once they receive a third and final report from the SEC.

Mariano noted that they are having a hard time sorting out voluminous documents given to them by the SEC because the papers have been sent by batches and are contained in several boxes. – Delon Porcalla