MANILA, Philippines – The bank holding P1.34 billion in cash and assets that the Sandiganbayan ruled belong to former President Joseph Estrada was informed yesterday that the anti-graft court has ordered P189.7 million in cash deposited in the Jose Velarde account be delivered to the government.
Banco de Oro’s management was given 15 days or until Oct. 13 to comply with order of the Sandiganbayan.
However, Sheriff Edgardo Urieta said the anti-graft court did not specify to which government accounts the money from the Jose Velarde account should be deposited.
“For now we served the notice to BDO upon order of the Special Division,” he said. “We will wait for the reply of BDO – if they will seek clarification as to which accounts the P189.7 million should be deposited, especially since almost half of the amount is in stocks.”
Meanwhile, the Sandiganbayan has ruled that forfeiture of the assets from the Jose Velarde account is more important than collection of unpaid taxes.
In January 2001, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) froze the Jose Velarde account to enable the collection of taxes from the more than P1.825 billion in deposits.
It refused to lift the freeze order to allow the delivery of a portion of the Velarde assets to the anti-graft court.
In a 15-page petition, the BIR asked the Sandiganbayan to recognize its claim to the Jose Velarde account, specifically for unpaid taxes.
The anti-graft court ruled that BDO should release the specified amount in cash and stocks to three accounts of the Sandiganbayan after dismissing the claim of Wellex Group, Inc. of businessman William Gatchalian.
“The accounts receivable/assets covered by the Investment Management Account in the name of Jose Velarde at BDO has a total value of approximately P1,344,667,987.90 as of May 2008,” read the court’s order.
“While the Court agrees that the said Velarde account is subject to tax, the Court believes that a sizeable amount thereof will still remain even after the Court’s forfeiture of P189.7 million, inclusive of interest and income earned, which amount is sufficient enough to cover the claim of the BIR.”
Earlier, Urieta directed the BDO’s legal services division to draw three certified checks for the total amount of P95.76 million – P92,886,130 in the name of the Sandiganbayan, P1,915,260 for the Sandiganbayan Judiciary Development Fund, and P957,759 for the Sandiganbayan Special Allowance for Justices and Judges Fund – based on the writ issued by the special division for execution of forfeiture order on the controversial bank account as part of Estrada’s conviction of plunder in September last year.
However, government prosecutors argued that the sheriff should have instead collected the entire P189.7 million, along with all interest and income earned, that was deposited to the Velarde account, not just the P95.76 million stated in the notice.
The P189.7-million deposit is part of the properties identified by the anti-graft court as part of Estrada’s ill-gotten wealth when it convicted him of plunder.
The stock investments and trust deposits in the Velarde account at BDO consist of P500 million in promissory notes, Waterfront shares worth P652.5 million and a common trust fund in the amount of P95.76 million.