Thursday, October 18, 2007 US consul on dumped bonds: bogus
“CLEARLY bogus.”
That was how United States Honorary Consul John Domingo said of the US federal interest coupons found inside a trunk in Argao, southern Cebu last Friday.
Domingo met with Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Ronald Roderos and other police officials at 9 a.m. yesterday to check on the items and discuss what to do with these.
Domingo considers the items a “very poor job of falsification.”
“The copy is terrible,” he said.
He witnessed the opening yesterday of all 13 canisters inside the antique-finish chest where the certificates and interest coupons were kept.
Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Carmelo Valmoria, PRO 7 Chief of Staff Arnulfo Perez and Department of Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Lito Ruiz were also present in the meeting at the Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr.
Echoing observations earlier made by the police, Domingo cited the grammatical errors.
“By looking at the documents inside, there are a lot of errors in the printing, the English, the numbers. Nothing matches. The paper is not an authentic paper, I can tell.
The grammar is very poor,” Domingo said in an interview with reporters.
He also noted that a bond showed a figure that resembled a dollar bill marked US$1 million, but the print below it stated that the bond was worth US $1 billion.
The dollar bill found in the bond also has prints similar to a US$1 bill with the face of former US president George Washington, Domingo noted.
Bogus
Samples will be sent to the US Embassy.
“Once the documents are in the hands of the US Embassy officials, they will verify the authenticity of the documents and if they find it to be false, which I’m sure they will, they will either direct the police to send it to the US embassy or dispose of it here,” he said.
Domingo also commended the police yesterday for a job well done.
“The reaction by the PNP was very, very quick and very thorough,” he said.
There were reports that a Caucasian man driving a red Mitsubishi Pajero was the one who left the trunk in a banana grove.
On this, Domingo said, “If he is an American citizen, he falls under the Philippine law. It doesn’t make a difference whether he is an American or any foreigner, if they break Philippine law, they are under the jurisdiction of the Philippines. They will bear the full brunt of the law.”
Roderos said the result of the test by the US Government will be used as basis for the police to take its next action.
Valmoria, on the other hand, said the provincial police office is still verifying the identity of the Caucasian and three other persons. (JST)
