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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Estrada denies stashing illegal funds in secret bank account (12:30 p.m.)
MANILA -- Ousted Philippine President Joseph Estrada, testifying in his yearslong plunder trial, on Wednesday denied charges that he stashed ill-gotten millions in a secret bank account, but admitted having signed the account documents.
Estrada, 69, who was forced out of office during massive street protests in 2001, has dismissed as lies the charges that he amassed about P4 billion (US$77 million; euro63 million) from illegal gambling payoffs, tax kickbacks and commissions.
He also denied a perjury charge for allegedly underreporting his assets in 1999, saying Wednesday that many of the companies he had shares in were already out of business by the time he became president in 1998.
His trial, frequently interrupted by medical treatment for his eyes and ailing knees, entered a final stage this year with Estrada's appearance as defense witness. The prosecution rested its case in 2003 after presenting 76 witnesses and more than 1,500 pieces of evidence.
"I deny all those charges. I never enriched myself with commissions, kickbacks or any pecuniary benefits... I do not own the Jose Velarde account and I did not and never would connive with any person or persons for any illegal purpose or purposes," he told the court, referring to the fictitious name under which the account was opened.
Prosecutors say the account contained P3.2 billion (US$61.5 million; euro48 million).
Estrada said the account actually belonged to a friend, Jaime Dichavez. Estrada admitted signing the account documents as "Jose Velarde," but said it was part of an "internal arrangement" between him, Dichavez and the bank. He did not elaborate.
He said another friend and election supporter, William Gatchalian, later needed to borrow a large amount of money from the bank, and he agreed to sign the name "Jose Velarde" as guarantor of the loan.
He said he was motivated chiefly by concerns about Gatchalian's 3,000 employees who would have lost their jobs without the loan.
"Since no government money was involved, I did not think twice about signing it," Estrada said.
He cited the earlier testimonies of two bank officers to back his claim that he didn't own the account.
But in testimony during an aborted Senate impeachment trial of Estrada in 2000, Equitable PCI Bank's senior vice president, Clarissa Ocampo, testified that Estrada, and not Dichaves, owned the account.
She said former bank Chairman George Go, a friend of Estrada's, ordered her to replace documents linking the account to Estrada with new ones showing Dichaves as the owner.
The trial adjourned until next Wednesday. (AP) |
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