THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) and the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) of Bayawan City, Negros Oriental have convicted three former officers of now closed Rural Bank of Basay (Negros Oriental) Inc. (RB Basay) for violating Republic Act (RA) 8791 or The General Banking Law of 2000 and the Revised Penal Code (RPC), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday, June 3, 2022.
The bank’s former president and manager Amorsolo L. Jordan, former cashier Herelyn B. Gaga-a, and former loan collector Rene R. Silorio were found guilty of the criminal charges filed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) with the Department of Justice in 2019.
According to the central bank, the criminal cases arose from the participation of the three officers in the processing, approval and grant by RB Basay of several loans to its directors, officers, stockholders and related interests (Dosri) totaling P393,500 and a fictitious loan of P521,000.
The BSP uncovered the fraudulent loans during the investigation on the bank’s loan transactions after its closure.
In its decision dated March 30, 2021, RTC-Bayawan found Jordan and Gaga-a guilty of violating RA 8791 and sentenced them to imprisonment of two to six years for each of the nine counts.
In a separate decision exactly a year later on March 30, 2022, MTCC-Bayawan found Jordan and Gaga-a guilty of falsification of commercial/public documents under the RPC, and sentenced them to imprisonment of four months to one year and one day, and to pay a fine of P1,000.
In another decision of the same date, the same court also found Jordan and Silorio guilty of falsification of private documents by private individuals under the RPC.
Jordan was sentenced to jail time of four months and one day to one year and one day, and ordered to pay a fine of P1,000.
Silorio was slapped with jail time of four months and a fine of P1,000.
The BSP closed the bank in 2016. (With PR)