UCPB: AMLC cleared withdrawal of P40-M from 'pork' account

MANILA, Philippines — The United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) on Friday denied having illegally allowed the withdrawal from an account linked to the "pork barrel" scam despite a freeze order.

In a statement, the bank said that the withdrawal of P39.7 million from the account of the First Integrated Bonding and Insurance Company (FIBICO) was made after the transaction was cleared by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).

Read related: Bank able to withdraw from frozen ‘pork’ account

The Court of Appeals had ordered the account to be among those to be frozen in August last year. The accounts were believed to contain money from embezzlement of congressional Priority Development Assistance Funds led by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles.

The freeze order allegedly expired on May 8, and the account owner took advantage of the window to pull money, UCPB indicated.

"The said clearance was issued by AMLC in its letter dated May 7, 2014 in response to UCPB’s letter dated April 7, 2014 seeking guidance on accounts covered by the freeze order, but not covered by the first Provisional Asset Preservation Order (PAPO) and Asset Preservation Order (APO)," the bank's officials said.

UCPB also quoted AMLC as saying, "Save for the accounts covered by the PAPO and APO issued in the forfeiture case, the effects of the freeze order can now be lifted with respect to the frozen accounts."

UCPB said that FIBICO was neither covered by the two more recent orders stemming from the forfeiture cases of AMLC.

"[UCPB] only acted on the accounts of the Company upon exhausting all means of clarification and clearance from the proper institutions," the bank added.

The Manila Regional Trial Court, meanwhile, has again included the FIBICO accounts under a second provisional asset preservation order effective only last June 6.