Bank execs were paid for testimony — Erap lawyer

Prosecution star witness Clarissa Ocampo, lawyer Manuel Curato and other officers and employees of Equitable-PCI Bank were paid to testify against President Joseph Estrada before the Senate impeachment court in December 2000 and January 2001, a court-appointed counsel of Estrada said yesterday.

Lawyer Prospero Crescini told reporters his allegations are based on three resolutions of the board of directors of Equitable-PCI Bank, dated Dec. 19, 2000, Jan. 16, 2001, and Feb. 20, 2001.

"The board does hereby authorize management to provide legal, financial, logistical and other support to any and all bank officials who may give their testimony or represent Equitable-PCI Bank Inc. (EPCIB) in connection with the impeachment proceedings or other proceedings related thereto," Crescini quoted the board resolutions.

Copies of board resolutions 13446-2000, 13453-2001, and 13741-2001 were submitted by Curato yesterday before the Sandiganbayan special division trying the criminal cases against Estrada.

Ocampo was former senior vice president and head of the Trust Department of Equitable-PCI Bank, while Curato is first vice president and chief of the Legal Services Division.

Crescini said the resolutions show how "well funded" were Ocampo, Curato, and other witnesses from Equitable-PCI Bank who have testified and will testify against Estrada in the impeachment trial and in the various criminal cases before the Sandiganbayan.

"The board’s resolutions dated Dec. 19, 2000 and numbered 13490-2000 also stated that the management is directed to inform and update the directors with priority on a continuing basis on the developments of the impeachment proceedings insofar as it has an effect, whether direct or indirect, on Equitable PCI Bank as an institution or on the general economic environment."

Crescini said the contents of the board resolutions bolstered his earlier claims that Ocampo and Curato testified against Estrada to allow Equitable-PCI Bank to recover financial losses from a massive bank run.

In 2000, Equitable-PCI Bank’s total deposits of P165.8 billion slipped to P132.58 billion because of allegations that it was a "crony bank" of Estrada, he added.

During cross-examination yesterday, Curato said officials of Equitable-PCI Bank "sanitized" the minutes of the board meetings on Dec. 19, 2000, Jan. 16, 2001, and Feb. 20, 2001, which led to the approval of the three resolutions, and limited the portions submitted in court to those "substantial" to Estrada’s trial for illegal use of alias and plunder.

The board’s action of deleting parts of portions of the minutes was to protect the bank’s other clients in accordance with Republic Act 1405, the Bank Secrecy Law, he added.

However, Crescini said Equitable-PCI Bank must submit in court the entire minutes of the three board meetings to enable the defense to determine whether there are additional information involving Estrada.

"It was arbitrary of them to delete portions of the minutes of the meetings," he said. "This excites our suspicion. They should leave to the court the discretion to determine what is substantial and what is not in these proceedings."

Crescini said the prosecution is "intentionally withholding" evidence from the defense.

"We were not even given the opportunity to gloss over the documents," he said.

During the trial, a heated argument ensued between former judge Dennis Villa-Ignacio, one of the prosecutors, and former Sandiganbayan presiding justice Manuel Pamaran, one of Estrada’s court-appointed counsels.

Villa-Ignacio accused Pamaran of snatching from the prosecution table a copy of Equitable-PCI Bank’s journal log containing entries on the so-called Jose Velarde account.

Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, chairwoman of the special division, later ruled that the defense cannot yet obtain a copy of the document. –Jose Rodel Clapano