I’ve awakened from my slumber. The impeachment proceedings are turning with the entry of highly unusual, possibly suspicious and potentially illegal transactions.
What does “unusual” mean? It’s a simple word that should be easy to understand yet you’d be surprised how many people don’t get it.
I always ask employees to report “unusual” events to me. I explain that “unusual” means something out of the ordinary. It’s not routine. It’s not something that happens daily.
Six hours into a power outage, I receive a call from one of our employees asking me what to do. The generator at the store only supplied power to the lights and the cash register.
“Why didn’t you call me when the power went out?” I erupted. “Pull out all the refrigerator and freezer items and move them to the main store,” I barked.
The TED Talk ensued. If a customer makes a scene for whatever reason. If a customer makes an “unusual” request for which more examples had to be given. If any equipment fails. If a power outage occurs and especially one that lasts six hours. These are “unusual” events, I tell them — events that need to be reported to me.
“Suspicious” means it smarts of foul play, wrongdoing, hidden motives.
An employee once called me asking if she should agree to a customer’s request to be issued a written receipt for a purchase made many weeks before. A purchase for which the customer was already issued a cash register receipt.
The customer had the cash register receipt with her and was willing to surrender it. She claimed she could not be reimbursed for the expense as the company demanded a written receipt. We acceded to her request.
But she came back a second time with the same request and for the same reason. This time, we became suspicious. I later realized she was probably expensing twice for the same purchase with two receipts on two different dates. So, on the second occasion, we said no. She never came back.
An unusual transaction is not necessarily suspicious because “unusual” simply means out of the ordinary but sometimes, “unusual” can also be “suspicious.”
If my bank account receives monthly deposits of P100,000 but suddenly receives a deposit of P2,000,000, that seems “unusual” but is it suspicious?
If I am able to explain the source of funds which are legitimate then, it’s not. But if I refuse to divulge where the funds come from then it could be labeled “suspicious.” Still, “suspicious” is not automatically “illegal.”
For all you know, I may simply want to keep things private. So, while my actions may seem “suspicious,” my transactions may actually be above board. Not all suspicious transactions are illegal.
“Illegal,” as we all know, means contrary to law.
The cash withdrawals of the Office of the Vice President of P612.5M in total made on seven different dates from LandBank Shaw Blvd. and LandBank DepEd Pasig were “unusual” according to the testimony of the former bank managers. But they did not find them “suspicious” as they were authorized.
I have never worked in the banking industry but a cash withdrawal of a total of P612.5M which is more than half a billion pesos made within a relatively short period of time doesn’t just seem unusual to me, it screams suspicious.
Because who withdraws money in such obscene amounts and in cold cash? Would you not be afraid to be robbed? Well, I suppose not — not if you’re the robbers. But I’m not saying that any robbery took place here.
Unusual and suspicious. But were they illegal? This is what we hope the impeachment proceedings will tell us. We await with bated breath.
I’m fully awake now.