Top DBP execs charged over anomalous GS sales
Fourteen ranking officials of the Development Bank of the Philippines ( DBP) led by its chairman Jose A. Nunez Jr. and president Gil A. Buenaventura are facing graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged involvement in the anomalous sale of government securities ( GS) to a private party.
Among those named respondents to the criminal complaint were Alberto Aldaba Lim, Jose Luis L. Vera, Vaughn F. Montes, Lydia B. Echauz, Reynaldo G. Geronimo, Cecilio B. Lorenzo, Daniel Y. Laogan, Fe Susan G. Prado, Fritzie P. Tangkia-Fabricante, Mariquita L. Agena, Rustum H. Corpuz, and Francis J. Delos Reyes.
The DBP Employees Union ( DPEU) led by its president Rudelito L. Tirado Jr. and the Association of DBP Career Officials ( ADCO) headed by Francis Romulo I. Badilla Jr. filed the case yesterday.
In a statement given to reporters after the filing of the charges, the complainants accused the respondents of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities Regulation Code, and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) rules.
The accusation stems from DBP’s alleged illegal sale of P14.3 billion worth of GS to a private counterparty, which resulted in actual losses to the government amounting to P717.07 million.
“The losses caused the net income of the bank to drop significantly from P5.6 billion in 2013 to P4.5 billion last year,” the complainants alleged.
Citing a COA report, the charge sheet said DBP’s Treasury Group sold GS at various dates to First Metro Investment Corp. ( FMIC) with the same GS series purchased by DBP on the same day at the same price from FMIC.
Allegedly, officials and senior management officials did it despite knowledge that such kind of transactions described as “wash sales” are prohibited by the BSP as they are considered unsound trading practices that lead to market manipulation.
The complainants said COA recorded 28 wash sale transactions between DBP and FMIC recorded and effected through the Philippine Dealing Exchange System (PDEx) whose concerned officials were the ones who exposed and reported the transactions to the BSP.