Gun firm seeks P1-M damages from bank

A guns and ammunitions trading firm filed a damage claims against a bank for allowing a check issued to the company to be deposited into the private accounts of two of its part-owners.

In an affidavit filed at the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office, Raul Arambulo and Adam Jimenez of the Clay and Feather International Inc., sought to claim P404,500 in actual damages and P500,000 in exemplary damages from the Philippine Bank of Communications (PBcom).

They claimed the bank allowed two other part owners, Armando and Clifford Lichaytoo, to deposit a P404,500 check payable to Clay and Feather, in their private account.

“On November 29, 2005, PBCom through its Legaspi Village branch, allowed the deposit of the aforesaid check to the personal account of the Lichaytoos. PBCom betrayed its depositor, Clay and Feather, when it allowed the deposit to a personal account and not to the account of Clay and Feather,” the complaint read.

PBCom has issued an apology in a letter dated Dec. 4, 2007 for the unauthorized deposit, but Arambulo and Jimenez said that despite a demand letter dated Jan. 7, 2008, PBCom did not reimburse the amount.

Earlier, the company filed a complaint against the Lichaytoos, charging them with 220 counts of estafa for defrauding the company in almost P7.395 million worth in sales.

The Lichaytoos were reportedly selling guns and ammunition without remitting the payments to the company.

The complainants alleged that the brothers “conspired” with each other, accepting checks payable to their names and depositing these in their personal bank accounts.