While reading last month's Newsweek, we chanced upon an article that mentioned "the banality of evil," a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt who watched the trial in Israel of the infamous Nazi, Adolf Eichmann. In her book, she theorized that the great evils in history generally, and the Holocaust in particular, were not executed by fanatics or sociopaths but rather by ordinary people who accepted the premises of their state and therefore participated with the view that their actions were normal.
That is how one may explain the actions and deeds (misdeeds) of our leaders and officials in government who wantonly and brazenly cheat, lie, and steal. In a nation that prides itself as the only Catholic country in Southeast Asia, we are certainly one of the most corrupt, if not the most corrupt. The Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) survey in 2008 placed our country as the most corrupt, only to be displaced by Indonesia as no.1 in its 2009 survey. And the PERC surveys cover 14 Asian countries plus Australia.
No wonder then that individuals like Baladjay, Tibayan, Mateo, Hao and the most recent monster, Celso de los Angeles, thrive in a country like ours. The two million peso question: Would this scam artists have prospered without the blessings of powerful politicians and government officials? We would have to say that there was no way for Celso and his ilk to have flourished for years without the connivance of the powers-that-be. In Celso's case, SEC and BSP have been implicated. The conduct of evil is now so normal in our society that men have come to accept evil as not unusual; in fact, it seems that doing good is getting to be the exception to the rule of evil.
But if these shenanigans and criminal acts are done by Catholics, does this mean that they do not believe that what they are doing (have done) is against God? We are of the opinion that they know that it is a crime to lie, cheat, steal and scam, but simply find ways to justify it. And this miscreants believe that all they have to do is repent before they die, and they will be forgiven by God.
But what about the thousands and thousands of lives and families ruined by their acts and now have to live in poverty and misery? Eichmann was kidnapped by the Israelites so as to be tried for his crimes while he was alive: he was convicted and hanged in 1962. Sometimes, we wish that the NPAs and Abu Sayyafs would kidnap corrupt governments officials, politicians and criminals like Celso and Hao, and let pay them for their crimes as Eichmann did.
Showing posts with label SEC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SEC. Show all posts
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Land of the Rising Scam
Celso de los Angeles is just the latest in a Who's Who gallery of Filipino rogues and scoundrels that have fleeced Filipinos of their money and savings. He is not the first but he seems to be the one who has practically perfected the art.
The pyramid scam hogged the headlines in 2002 when investment firms, most of them not even registered with the SEC, swindled more than a million investors of an estimated P100 billion. Companies such as Multitel, MMG Holdings, Tibayan Group of Companies, Glasgow and Maria Theresa Santos Trading duped people into investing P10,000-P300,000 with promised 10-15 percent annual returns.
Multitel, owned and operated by the pyramid queen Rosario Baladjay,used counselors who recruited investors. Successful recruitments meant a 1 to 20 percent commission for the counselors, who also brought in subcounselors. Celso used marketing agents who inveigled preneed planholders to convert their plans into DYM certificates and convinced savers to deposit in the Legacy rural banks. While Baladjay's scheme ran for three years (1999 to 2002), Celso's flourished for a record 11 years (1997 to 2008). But in three years, Baladjay amassed a whopping P20 billion while Celso "only" siphoned off a conservative P14 billion.
In 2008, a racket which spun off from Multitel also stole P2 billion-worth of investments from its victims. Cyrus Yap Hao, who worked with Baladjay in Multitel, introduced his own pyramid scheme through a company called Royal Manchester Five. FrancsSwiss also solicited investments ranging from $1,000-$10,000 with payment done online through the different websites of FrancSwiss, duping investors of another $150 million.
Baladjay was convicted in 2003 based on numerous estafa cases, and so was Maria Theresa Santos. Both are believed to be incarcerated in the Correction Institute for Women. Eric Mateo of Mateo Trading was arrested in early 2008 while Hao left the country in March 2008 but he was eventually nabbed by the NBI, but Jesus Tibayan is still at-large. Nobody knows any recents news about Mateo, Hao and Tibayan, but a recent balitapinoy.com news reports has given us a clue:
MANILA, July 2 — Acting Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary and concurrent Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera ordered on Thursday DOJ prosecutors to fast-track the investigation of all financial and business scam cases awaiting resolution.
Correlating the unresolved cases in the DOJ and other prosecution offices to the recent conviction of former NASDAQ chairman Bernard Madoff, "this will generate the feeling of impatience to the general public and the complainants of the business and financial cases," Devanadera pointed out.
The Acting DOJ chief ordered Acting Chief State Prosecutor Severino Gana, Jr. to direct Asst. Chief State Prosecutors Miguel Gudio and Leah Armamento and City Prosecutor Emilie delos Santos to speed up the investigation of such cases similar to a Ponzi scheme committed by Madoff.
"Let us show immediate results," Devanadera stressed as she urged DOJ prosecutors for the successful prosecution of the accused. (PNA)
Two million-peso questions: Does Devanedera's memo indicate that the former Secretary of Justice sat on these cases? Any bets that this new directive will cover Celso?
The pyramid scam hogged the headlines in 2002 when investment firms, most of them not even registered with the SEC, swindled more than a million investors of an estimated P100 billion. Companies such as Multitel, MMG Holdings, Tibayan Group of Companies, Glasgow and Maria Theresa Santos Trading duped people into investing P10,000-P300,000 with promised 10-15 percent annual returns.
Multitel, owned and operated by the pyramid queen Rosario Baladjay,used counselors who recruited investors. Successful recruitments meant a 1 to 20 percent commission for the counselors, who also brought in subcounselors. Celso used marketing agents who inveigled preneed planholders to convert their plans into DYM certificates and convinced savers to deposit in the Legacy rural banks. While Baladjay's scheme ran for three years (1999 to 2002), Celso's flourished for a record 11 years (1997 to 2008). But in three years, Baladjay amassed a whopping P20 billion while Celso "only" siphoned off a conservative P14 billion.
In 2008, a racket which spun off from Multitel also stole P2 billion-worth of investments from its victims. Cyrus Yap Hao, who worked with Baladjay in Multitel, introduced his own pyramid scheme through a company called Royal Manchester Five. FrancsSwiss also solicited investments ranging from $1,000-$10,000 with payment done online through the different websites of FrancSwiss, duping investors of another $150 million.
Baladjay was convicted in 2003 based on numerous estafa cases, and so was Maria Theresa Santos. Both are believed to be incarcerated in the Correction Institute for Women. Eric Mateo of Mateo Trading was arrested in early 2008 while Hao left the country in March 2008 but he was eventually nabbed by the NBI, but Jesus Tibayan is still at-large. Nobody knows any recents news about Mateo, Hao and Tibayan, but a recent balitapinoy.com news reports has given us a clue:
MANILA, July 2 — Acting Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary and concurrent Solicitor General Agnes Devanadera ordered on Thursday DOJ prosecutors to fast-track the investigation of all financial and business scam cases awaiting resolution.
Correlating the unresolved cases in the DOJ and other prosecution offices to the recent conviction of former NASDAQ chairman Bernard Madoff, "this will generate the feeling of impatience to the general public and the complainants of the business and financial cases," Devanadera pointed out.
The Acting DOJ chief ordered Acting Chief State Prosecutor Severino Gana, Jr. to direct Asst. Chief State Prosecutors Miguel Gudio and Leah Armamento and City Prosecutor Emilie delos Santos to speed up the investigation of such cases similar to a Ponzi scheme committed by Madoff.
"Let us show immediate results," Devanadera stressed as she urged DOJ prosecutors for the successful prosecution of the accused. (PNA)
Two million-peso questions: Does Devanedera's memo indicate that the former Secretary of Justice sat on these cases? Any bets that this new directive will cover Celso?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Who is the real villain? BSP or PDIC
The consultant pointed out that BSP has come out with relatively clean hands from the Legacy debacle. He said that PDIC is being vilified by the bank depositors but forget that PDIC, under its 2004 charter, could only examine the banks if directed by the Monetary Board. However a close perusal of charter's Sec. 8, article 8 shows that PDIC could on its own initiate and "conduct examination of banks with prior approval of the Monetary Board. That, to avoid overlapping of efforts, the examination shall maximize the efficient use of the relevant reports, information, and findings of the Bangko Sentral which it shall make available to the Corporation."
Here's the rub- the BSP had primary responsibility to monitor these banks, and in fact if reports are to believed, had started its investigation of Legacy banks as early as 2001. Why did it take 7 years before it concluded that these banks were conducting unsafe and unsound banking practices? If we are to believe the allegations of ex-PDIC President Ricardo Tan that it had conducted its own investigations of these same banks in 2005 where it found anomalies and irregularities, then why didn't BSP move earlier against these banks? From the aforementioned article above, BSP would have shared its 2001-2004 findings with the PDIC, and since both investigations lead to the same conclusion, then why didn't the BSP and for that matter, the PDIC file charges against the bank officers?
The consultant offered a juicy tidbit: when the combined SEC and NBI teams raided the Makati offices of the Legacy Consolidated Plans, they found several boxes of documents belonging to the Legacy banks. The PDIC got wind of this development, and requested that it be turned over to them. The SEC refused, and the PDIC had to go to court to compel the SEC for the turnover of the documents to them. Can you imagine that? SEC not cooperating with PDIC. BSP turning down PDIC's loan request of P14 billion. And who ends up the loser and victim of this inter-agency intramurals? As usual, the depositors. No wonder Celso and his ilk were and are able to milk the public: these gov't agencies cannot get their act together.
But wait... isn't that the SEC whose commissioner was tagged as having received almost P7 million worth of goodies from CGA? We heard from the grapevine that during the height of senate and congressional investigations of the Legacy mess and SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, big boss caused the family of Martinez to be billeted in Hongkong, shades of Jun Lozada. Rumor has it that the family of the commissioner was held hostage so as not to implicate the boss of Celso and Speaker. Jesus Martinez kept his mouth shut until death shut him up for good (or bad). If this rumor is true, then this explains why Celso is scot-free while his US counterparts- Bernie Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford- have been indicted for numerous charges, and more importantly, been stripped of their assets.
Here's the rub- the BSP had primary responsibility to monitor these banks, and in fact if reports are to believed, had started its investigation of Legacy banks as early as 2001. Why did it take 7 years before it concluded that these banks were conducting unsafe and unsound banking practices? If we are to believe the allegations of ex-PDIC President Ricardo Tan that it had conducted its own investigations of these same banks in 2005 where it found anomalies and irregularities, then why didn't BSP move earlier against these banks? From the aforementioned article above, BSP would have shared its 2001-2004 findings with the PDIC, and since both investigations lead to the same conclusion, then why didn't the BSP and for that matter, the PDIC file charges against the bank officers?
The consultant offered a juicy tidbit: when the combined SEC and NBI teams raided the Makati offices of the Legacy Consolidated Plans, they found several boxes of documents belonging to the Legacy banks. The PDIC got wind of this development, and requested that it be turned over to them. The SEC refused, and the PDIC had to go to court to compel the SEC for the turnover of the documents to them. Can you imagine that? SEC not cooperating with PDIC. BSP turning down PDIC's loan request of P14 billion. And who ends up the loser and victim of this inter-agency intramurals? As usual, the depositors. No wonder Celso and his ilk were and are able to milk the public: these gov't agencies cannot get their act together.
But wait... isn't that the SEC whose commissioner was tagged as having received almost P7 million worth of goodies from CGA? We heard from the grapevine that during the height of senate and congressional investigations of the Legacy mess and SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, big boss caused the family of Martinez to be billeted in Hongkong, shades of Jun Lozada. Rumor has it that the family of the commissioner was held hostage so as not to implicate the boss of Celso and Speaker. Jesus Martinez kept his mouth shut until death shut him up for good (or bad). If this rumor is true, then this explains why Celso is scot-free while his US counterparts- Bernie Madoff and Robert Allen Stanford- have been indicted for numerous charges, and more importantly, been stripped of their assets.
Monday, May 4, 2009
An Expose of PDIC: The Makings of a Syndicate
Ricardo Tan, former president of PDIC, claimed that sometime in 2005, Nograles had invited him to dinner in Edsa Plaza Shangrila hotel but was surprised by the appearance of Celso de los Angeles. Prospero Nograles, then House majority leader, asked him to go easy on the probe of the Legacy Group because its owner was well connected with top administration officials. This dinner came after PDIC had started its own investigation of the legacy banks. “We conducted a probe based on the complaints of depositors,” Tan said.“What we found were fictitious deposits, [rotating] collateral from one bank to the other, unsafe and unsound [banking practices] and improper documentation.”
The older Nograles kept on coming up with different explanations for that meeting, and noting that if he had wanted to intervene in the Legacy case, he should have talked to the BSP and not PDIC. He is quoted as saying ““The function of PDIC is to pay depositors of banks ordered closed by the central bank which files complaints against erring banks. Filing cases is not the function of PDIC. So why should I talk to him (Ricardo Tan) when it is not his function? His job is to collate assets of closed banks and pay depositors.” Not surprisingly, Celso echoed the same line by saying “Why would I talk to Ric Tan when he was not with the BSP, and I did not have any closed banks at that time?” If Celso could play dumb on the powers of PDIC, Prospero Nograles certainly cannot get away with feigning ignorance. He was the majority leader when RA 9302, the law that restored PDIC’s power to examine and investigate banks, was deliberated on the floor and passed by the House in 2004.
We can therefore logically infer two facts from Tan’s revelations: first, that contrary to the younger Nograles’ protestations in the 2009 congressional hearings, PDIC could and had in fact investigated the legacy banks as early as 2005 and second, that Celso had powerful friends who were obviously interceding and running interference for him. Celso himself disclosed in an interview with Ricky Carandang that that he was “close” to some influential political figures like Vice President Noli De Castro, House Speaker Boy Nograles, former congressman Butch Pichay, and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. VP Noli acknowledged that Celso was a campaign supporter in his 2004 election run for the VP position. How valuable was he to Noli de Castro? Obviously a big-time contributor- it was De Castro who recommended that De los Angeles be appointed in 2004 as chairman of the National Home Mortgage Corporation. Nograles admitted that he was a legacy preneed investor before 2004 and still had a collectible of P18 million in legacy investments. Legacy bank insiders revealed that the Speaker had availed of the bank’s car promo plan under its 6-year DYM time deposit. The Speaker has admitted to attending parties thrown by Celso. Carol Hinola, former president of the Legacy group, alleged that Congressman Ed Zialcita received a monthly stipend of P100,000 as consultant fees. Patricio Mangubat of the New Philippine Revolution wrote that the Paranaque congressman “is not just a silent investor but a very active one.
Obviously, these powerful friends had to ensure that the golden goose would keep on laying the golden eggs. Having influential partners and backers was not enough to keep the money machine operating. It needed inside men to ensure that BSP, PDIC and SEC would not spoil the party. The critical roles of BSP and PDIC as potential spoilers in the grand scheme are axiomatic; what is not evident is the function of the SEC. Most of the bank depositors confidently deposited their hard-earned money into the legacy rural banks, not only because of the high interest rates offered but because the banks were part of a conglomerate that included supposedly profitable sister companies engaged in preneed plans, motorcycle dealerships, credit cards, etc. Celso and his friends could not allow the SEC to close down these companies and therefore bring down confidence in the legacy “business model” that Celso kept on mentioning during the initial senate hearings. This was the business model that was making it possible for the legacy banks and preneed companies to rake in billions of pesos.
Enter SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, close cousin of congressman Zialcita. Hinola had narrated that during lunch on Feb. 14, 2006 at a Japanese restaurant at the Shangri-La hotel in Makati, Martinez, who was accompanied by Zialcita, has asked her “ if we have any problems with the SEC that he [Martinez] could help us with and at that time…” Martinez must have been a big help because Hinola accused him of receiving a Ford expedition in 2007 and a P5 million house in 2008, all courtesy of legacy funds. One potential problem (SEC) dealt with, two (BSP and PDIC) to go.
Very few people are aware that Prospero Nograles has a close relative working in the BSP. His name is Manuel Bendigo and he is the brother of the wife of Nograles. Though the BSP started investigating the legacy banks as early as 2004, it would seem that the legacy banks were always one step ahead of the investigative team. Would it be farfetched to believe that this brother-in-law played a key role in keeping Celso abreast of BSP’s findings and plans? Two down, one to go.
For refusing to play ball and go easy on the legacy probe, Ricardo Tan was replaced as PDIC president by Michael Osmena, who died in office. On December, 2007, Jose Nograles, an unheard-of Senior Vice President of Landbank and more importantly, younger brother of the House of Representatives’ majority leader, was appointed as PDIC president. It would seem that the younger Nograles had two marching orders- the first and immediate priority was to set aside and bury the adverse findings of PDIC’s 2005 investigations of the legacy banks. He obviously accomplished his first mission. Ricardo Tan said in an interview with the Inquirer ““When I left PDIC [in April 2006], our exposure to [De los Angeles’] 12 banks [in terms of insured deposits] was P4 billion,” “Since then, PDIC’s exposure has risen to P14 billion.” What was the new PDIC president’s second mission? That in case the some of the legacy banks failed, PDIC, in compliance with its overall mandate, would pay the depositors promptly and expeditiously. Remember his older brother’s quoted job description of the PDIC president? “His job is to collate assets of closed banks and pay depositors.” A month after the legacy banks’ closure, Celso announces that PDIC will soon be paying the bank depositors. Swift deposit payouts would have avoided unwanted attention into legacy bank anomalies and the criminal negligence of the regulatory agencies. But the syndicate did not take into account the one flaw in its grand plan- PDIC had no money to pay out and the BSP inexplicably refused to lend it money. How and why did this happen to the PDIC that had boasted that it had a DIF of P61.5 billion pesos? Part 4 will reveal the hidden interests of the big financial institutions that caused the drying up of the govt-controlled private funds.
The older Nograles kept on coming up with different explanations for that meeting, and noting that if he had wanted to intervene in the Legacy case, he should have talked to the BSP and not PDIC. He is quoted as saying ““The function of PDIC is to pay depositors of banks ordered closed by the central bank which files complaints against erring banks. Filing cases is not the function of PDIC. So why should I talk to him (Ricardo Tan) when it is not his function? His job is to collate assets of closed banks and pay depositors.” Not surprisingly, Celso echoed the same line by saying “Why would I talk to Ric Tan when he was not with the BSP, and I did not have any closed banks at that time?” If Celso could play dumb on the powers of PDIC, Prospero Nograles certainly cannot get away with feigning ignorance. He was the majority leader when RA 9302, the law that restored PDIC’s power to examine and investigate banks, was deliberated on the floor and passed by the House in 2004.
We can therefore logically infer two facts from Tan’s revelations: first, that contrary to the younger Nograles’ protestations in the 2009 congressional hearings, PDIC could and had in fact investigated the legacy banks as early as 2005 and second, that Celso had powerful friends who were obviously interceding and running interference for him. Celso himself disclosed in an interview with Ricky Carandang that that he was “close” to some influential political figures like Vice President Noli De Castro, House Speaker Boy Nograles, former congressman Butch Pichay, and Environment Secretary Lito Atienza. VP Noli acknowledged that Celso was a campaign supporter in his 2004 election run for the VP position. How valuable was he to Noli de Castro? Obviously a big-time contributor- it was De Castro who recommended that De los Angeles be appointed in 2004 as chairman of the National Home Mortgage Corporation. Nograles admitted that he was a legacy preneed investor before 2004 and still had a collectible of P18 million in legacy investments. Legacy bank insiders revealed that the Speaker had availed of the bank’s car promo plan under its 6-year DYM time deposit. The Speaker has admitted to attending parties thrown by Celso. Carol Hinola, former president of the Legacy group, alleged that Congressman Ed Zialcita received a monthly stipend of P100,000 as consultant fees. Patricio Mangubat of the New Philippine Revolution wrote that the Paranaque congressman “is not just a silent investor but a very active one.
Obviously, these powerful friends had to ensure that the golden goose would keep on laying the golden eggs. Having influential partners and backers was not enough to keep the money machine operating. It needed inside men to ensure that BSP, PDIC and SEC would not spoil the party. The critical roles of BSP and PDIC as potential spoilers in the grand scheme are axiomatic; what is not evident is the function of the SEC. Most of the bank depositors confidently deposited their hard-earned money into the legacy rural banks, not only because of the high interest rates offered but because the banks were part of a conglomerate that included supposedly profitable sister companies engaged in preneed plans, motorcycle dealerships, credit cards, etc. Celso and his friends could not allow the SEC to close down these companies and therefore bring down confidence in the legacy “business model” that Celso kept on mentioning during the initial senate hearings. This was the business model that was making it possible for the legacy banks and preneed companies to rake in billions of pesos.
Enter SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez, close cousin of congressman Zialcita. Hinola had narrated that during lunch on Feb. 14, 2006 at a Japanese restaurant at the Shangri-La hotel in Makati, Martinez, who was accompanied by Zialcita, has asked her “ if we have any problems with the SEC that he [Martinez] could help us with and at that time…” Martinez must have been a big help because Hinola accused him of receiving a Ford expedition in 2007 and a P5 million house in 2008, all courtesy of legacy funds. One potential problem (SEC) dealt with, two (BSP and PDIC) to go.
Very few people are aware that Prospero Nograles has a close relative working in the BSP. His name is Manuel Bendigo and he is the brother of the wife of Nograles. Though the BSP started investigating the legacy banks as early as 2004, it would seem that the legacy banks were always one step ahead of the investigative team. Would it be farfetched to believe that this brother-in-law played a key role in keeping Celso abreast of BSP’s findings and plans? Two down, one to go.
For refusing to play ball and go easy on the legacy probe, Ricardo Tan was replaced as PDIC president by Michael Osmena, who died in office. On December, 2007, Jose Nograles, an unheard-of Senior Vice President of Landbank and more importantly, younger brother of the House of Representatives’ majority leader, was appointed as PDIC president. It would seem that the younger Nograles had two marching orders- the first and immediate priority was to set aside and bury the adverse findings of PDIC’s 2005 investigations of the legacy banks. He obviously accomplished his first mission. Ricardo Tan said in an interview with the Inquirer ““When I left PDIC [in April 2006], our exposure to [De los Angeles’] 12 banks [in terms of insured deposits] was P4 billion,” “Since then, PDIC’s exposure has risen to P14 billion.” What was the new PDIC president’s second mission? That in case the some of the legacy banks failed, PDIC, in compliance with its overall mandate, would pay the depositors promptly and expeditiously. Remember his older brother’s quoted job description of the PDIC president? “His job is to collate assets of closed banks and pay depositors.” A month after the legacy banks’ closure, Celso announces that PDIC will soon be paying the bank depositors. Swift deposit payouts would have avoided unwanted attention into legacy bank anomalies and the criminal negligence of the regulatory agencies. But the syndicate did not take into account the one flaw in its grand plan- PDIC had no money to pay out and the BSP inexplicably refused to lend it money. How and why did this happen to the PDIC that had boasted that it had a DIF of P61.5 billion pesos? Part 4 will reveal the hidden interests of the big financial institutions that caused the drying up of the govt-controlled private funds.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Another legacy from Celso
Been absent for quite a while, not just because I am preoccupied with a lot of things- foremost is the preparation and filing of claims with PDIC- but simply because nothing really new has been happening regarding Celso de los angeles. Sure, there are a lot of cases being filed in court against him but that is to be expected considering the nature of his crimes. BSP started it or was it initiated by angry investors in his preneed buyback plans? then PDIC got into the swing of things by filing two cases against him for syndicated estafa. I even read that SEC also filed a case against this criminal mastermind. Of course, here in the Philippines there is a wide gulf between filing cases and actually getting the respondent found guilty.
However, this legacy imbroglio has spawned another crime and celso is mentioned not because he is the perpetrator but because his misdeeds have created another monster. PDIC is now emerging as the criminal, led by its mastermind, its president who goes by the name of Jose Nograles. If his name sounds familiar, it is- he is the brother of Speaker Prospero Nograles. What is his crime? that will be the topic of our forthcoming blogs.
However, this legacy imbroglio has spawned another crime and celso is mentioned not because he is the perpetrator but because his misdeeds have created another monster. PDIC is now emerging as the criminal, led by its mastermind, its president who goes by the name of Jose Nograles. If his name sounds familiar, it is- he is the brother of Speaker Prospero Nograles. What is his crime? that will be the topic of our forthcoming blogs.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Expedition: lost and now found
The return of the Ford expedition right at the front of PDIC was a calculated strategy. Celso planned it in such a way that it would be traced back to him. Never mind if he swore under oath in the senate hearing that he had a lot of expeditions but did not have one owned by one of his rural banks. He'd rather be called a liar in order to cover up his dear friend and protector, SEC commissioner Martinez. I really suspect that the expedition was used by Martinez or by his wife or by his son but when things got hot, Martinez asked Celso to arrange it in such a way that it could not be traced back to the Martinezes. There is no other explanation why a criminal mastermind would allow himself to get easily caught returning the "hot" vehicle. Of course, anyone parking a car in front of a government building at an unholy hour would attract interest from security guards patrolling the perimeter. I just pity the hapless driver of Celso who was ordered to park the car, and knowing Celso, he would be paying his driver minimum wages even after going through detention and grilling by PDIC authorities.
This incident serves only to prove that Celso and Commissioner Martinez are thick as thieves!!!
This incident serves only to prove that Celso and Commissioner Martinez are thick as thieves!!!
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