Businessman charged for melting coins to make bath fixtures

MANILA, Philippines - The Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) has filed criminal charges against a Taiwanese businessman and his associates after they were caught melting Philippine coins and extracting metals from them to make plumbing fixtures.

PASG chief Undersecretary Antonio Villar said charges of violation of the Presidential Decree 247 (prohibiting and penalizing defacement, mutilation, tearing, burning or destruction of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas bank notes and coins) at the Caloocan City Prosecutor’s Office against Mun Tsun Liang, president of the Ming Tsun Liang Manufacturing Corp.

Villar said the charges were filed after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) certified that the finished plumbing accessories from the company’s plant in Sitio Gitna, Caloocan City were made of bronze extracted from local coins, particularly the 25-centavo pieces.

Also charged were the company’s directors and incorporators Jui Chung Liang, Evangeline Aquino, Redilyn Don, also known as Redilyn Go, Elenita Villaluz and secretary Carol Lim.

Government agents led by PASG Director for Operations Assistant Secretary Danilo Mangila found several sacks of mutilated and burned local coins of different denominations, the bronze contents of which were reportedly to be used to manufacture plumbing fixtures, during the raid of the plant two months ago.

Villar said the Taiwanese businessman has been making “a hell of a business out of our local currencies and in the local soil at that.”

“I would like to see them punished for their crime. This time, I hope the court would find them guilty,” Villar said referring to the previous complaints filed against Tsun Liang for the same offense three years ago at the Department of Justice when the company was still in Rosario, Cavite.

He said for still unknown reasons the complaints were dismissed.

The BSP is still conducting an inventory of the local coins to determine if there is a shortage as a result of Mun’s activities.

Last year, the PASG seized about P30-million worth of local coins about to be exported to South Korea by a syndicate which will use the copper and nickel contents in the manufacture of assorted electronics spare parts.

Intelligence reports also revealed that most of the seized coins came from various banks in the country thru the help of some bank employees believed to be members of a syndicate.