Court order favors LBC

Courier and money transfer service provider LBC group has obtained a court order lifting the P1.8-billion asset attachment and garnishment initiated by state-controlled Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. as part of a collection claim on behalf of a defunct LBC banking affiliate.

This development frees up the assets and liquidity of the company and eases the administrative and operational challenges that had confronted the group following the issuance of the attachment and garnishment order.

The Regional Trial Court of Makati City issued the order to lift and set aside the writ of preliminary attachment issued on Dec. 7, 2015 and the garnishment after the defendants delivered a counter-bond, LBC Express Holdings Inc. disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

“The order to lift and set aside the preliminary attachment directs the sheriff of the court to deliver to the defendants all properties previously garnished pursuant to the writ of preliminary attachment,” according to the disclosure.

“The counter-bond delivered by the defendants shall stand in place of the properties so released and shall serve as security to satisfy any final judgment in the case.”

The disclosure said that in compliance with such order, the sheriff of branch 143 of the Makati RTC had served the lifting of garnishment in the main offices of Landbank of the Philippines, BDO Unibank Inc., Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. and Philippine National Bank.

The defendants to this case are: LBC Express Inc., LBC Development Corp., LBC Properties Inc., Juan Carlos Araneta, Santiago G. Araneta, Fernando G. Araneta, Monica G. Araneta, Carlos Araneta, Ma. Eliza G. Berenguer, Ofelia F. Cuevas, Apolonia L. Ilio, Joseph Jeffrey Rodriguez and Arlan T. Jurado.

Araneta family-led LBC Express is a subsidiary of LBC Express Holdings while LBC Development Corp. is its parent company.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ordered the closure of LBC Development Bank in 2011, citing huge advances to LBC Express as part of the reason why the thrift bank had become insolvent.  PDIC, as the mandated receiver of the defunct bank, is now running after the said “unpaid service fees” estimated at P1.8 billion.

LBC Express is a leading player in payments, remittance, courier products, mail, parcels and, cargo logistics. It has operations in 4,400 locations in 30 countries in Asia-Pacific, North America, the Middle East and Europe, through various partners and agents.