Probe on Velarde account blocked by bank secrecy law

Prosecutors in the criminal cases against ousted President Joseph Estrada cannot dig deeper into the controversial Jose Velarde account because of restrictions of the Bank Secrecy Law.

Acting Ombudsman Margarito Gervacio said they were only able to track down transactions up to the second and third chains of fund transfer at the Equitable PCI Bank.

Gervacio said the Bank Secrecy Law prohibits investigators from looking further into the bank records.

Bank officials can invoke the law to stop them from scrutinizing bank documents, he added.

Gervacio said the Supreme Court earlier issued a ruling in the Marcos wealth cases in which the Bank Secrecy Law had been invoked. –Jose Rodel Clapano