MAIA Deguito, formerly manager of Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBS)’s Jupiter Street branch involved in the $81-million Bangladesh bank robbery, was arrested by Makati Police at 4:45 p.m. last Wednesday at Power Plant Mall in Rockwell on a perjury complaint.
She was released from Makati police detention at 1:15 a.m. following an order from Pasay Metropolitan Trial Judge Remibel Mondia to release her on bail of P6,000.
Her lawyer Ferdinand Topacio said he was surprised that Deguito was arrested “in connection with a case we had never heard about until tonight, the investigation of which we had never been notified.”
If true, it does seem that, not for the first time, Deguito is being unfairly harassed. Previously she was detained, possibly illegally, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) when she was about to embark, with her husband and son, on a family weekend holiday to Tokyo Disneyland. The sequence of events that led to her being detained was reportedly a communication from RCBC head office to former Senator Serge Osmeña III who then alerted airport authorities.
Deguito seems to have fallen foul of those who have power and influence. She is one of the lonely and downtrodden.
Deguito is already on the receiving end of a P32-million libel suit filed by former RCBC president and CEO Five Levels Tan.
The perjury charge may be overkill as it probably refers to testimony Deguito gave to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in which she said that Tan asked her to “take care of Kim Wong.” This is the testimony which led to the libel charge as well.
For Makati police to make arrest at 4:45 p.m. may have the intention of confining Deguito in detention overnight. For Judge Mondia to order her release late that evening together with the fact that the bail, P6,000, is small may indicate that the judge is concerned that Deguito may not have been fairly treated.
Topacio said: “We will explore all legal avenues to make all those responsible for this travesty of justice accountable by filing criminal and administrative charges in Pasay City prosecution office, if warranted, that Deguito’s constitutional rights were violated.”
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Meanwhile Bangladesh Bank has reversed its plan to sue Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (Swift) in connection with the robbery.
Of the $81 million stolen, the current scorecard reads: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas $15 million, Solaire Casino $3 million, Unknown $63 million, and Bangladesh Bank (BB) $0 million.
BB is seeking to rectify this unsatisfactory state of affairs. By dropping plans to sue the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Swift, it hopes to gain their cooperation. The focus of BB will therefore be the Philippines. It has been reported that it may sue RCBC.
Maria Celia Estavilo, RCBC Legal and Regulatory Affairs Head, responded: ‘Bring it on!’ or the equivalent in legalese.
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Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed charges of tax evasion amounting to P35.6 million against Philrem Service Corp. executives Salud and Michael Baustista.
Assistant State Prosecutor Karla Torres-Cabel said it found no probable cause to indict Philrem for a willful attempt to avoid payment of gross receipt tax for taxable years 2005 to 2014.
Philrem’s chief accountant was a no-show at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee dealing with the BB robbery. Philrem converted several million dollars obtained from RCBC into pesos but it is disputed as to how much Philrem handled. The lack of a proper audit trail is disquieting.
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There are those in various government agencies, such as Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Teresita Herbosa, who say that the case where $81 million was deposited then withdrawn from RCBC is coming to a close.
I disagree. The case will not be resolved in 2016 and probably not 2017 as well.
In the real world, truth trumps legal sophistry!