THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) filed criminal complaints against seven officers of the closed Cardinal Rural Bank Inc. (CRBI)-City of Naga, Cebu Branch for alleged violation of the banking laws.
Investigators from the BSP’s Office of the Special Investigation filed the charges before the Department of Justice, accusing Ramoncito Arquiza, then CRBI president, and six other bank officials of violating Sec. 36 of Republic Act 3791 (Manual of Regulations for Banks) and RA 7653, or the New Central Bank Act.
The bank officials released a P1-million loan to Catherine Soronio, daughter of Jose Soronio, a bank stockholder, last Feb. 4, 2008 without the approval of the bank’s Board of Directors, the BSP lawyers said.
Apart from Arquiza, the six other respondents are Jose Soronio and his daughter Catherine; Frecida Traya, former bank manager; Cindy Ylanan, former cashier; Ma. Theresa Tagalog, former treasurer; and former loans officer Maricor Pelimer.
Inosencio dela Cerna, lawyers of the respondents, said the City Prosecutor’s Office conducted a preliminary investigation yesterday along with prosecutors from the Department of Justice and representatives from the BSP.
The CRBI was placed under the receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) in 2009.
In their joint affidavit, BSP investigators Kristoffer John Torres, Joven Huyo-a and Emerson Rojas said they found out that the bank officials released P1 million “unsecured loan” to depositor Catherine Soronio, the stockholders’ daughter.
“We also discovered that the loan was not reported to the BSP and exceeded Dosri (directors, officers, stockholders and related interests) ceilings for individual and aggregate,” the BSP investigators said.
Sec. 326 of the Manual of Regulations for Banks states that spouse or relative within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity, or relative by legal adoption, of a director, officer or stockholder of the bank are considered Dosri borrower.
Being a Dosri loan, the lender should comply with the approval, reportorial and ceiling requirements pursuant to the provision of Manual of Regulations for Banks.
The BSP investigators said Soronio’s loan exceeded by P700, 000 since her outstanding deposit at that time of the loan application was only P25, 395.34.
