Rural bank chief convicted for stealing from own firm

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The head of a Romblon-based rural bank was found guilty of stealing millions of pesos from his own financial institution by creating  accounts into which loan repayments were supposed to be deposited — only that booked loan repayments were never actually remitted to the bank.

Instead, a sister company of the Rural Bank of Cajidiocan (Romblon) Inc. (RBCI), which was also owned and controlled by the family of bank chair and CEO Angeles R. Robis, did not remit the payments in full or at all.

Nonetheless, the supposed repayments were booked by RBCI and declared in three verified quarterly reports to the central bank for the 2006. The funds were declared in aggregate amounts of P55.8 million as of June 30 of that year; P56 million as of Sept. 30; and P56.8 million as of Dec. 31 — all of which reflected non-existent deposits with other banks.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Robis was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt on three counts of Violation of Section 26 of Republic Act No. 7353 (The Rural Banks Act of 1992) in a decision dated April 19, 2018 promulgated in open court on April 23, 2018. 

Judge Rosalyn D. Mislos-Loja of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 41, sentenced Robis to suffer the maximum 10 years imprisonment and to pay the maximum P10,000 fine.

In 2008, the BSP instituted a criminal complaint against Robis before the Department of Justice for submitting the three verified quarterly consolidated statements of condition which contained the misdeclarations. 

During trial, it was proven that the non-existent deposits were booked in “Due from Other Banks – Manila-based Banks” account, which represented accumulated funds received and/or collected by Anviro Financing Corporation. 

Anviro was another company owned and controlled by Robis and his family. The funds represented cash remittances, service fees, and collections of loan payments from teacher-borrowers of RBCI, all of which were not remitted in full, or at all, by Anviro to RBCI, but were instead booked under said account. 

As RBCI was not fully reimbursed of the funds it disbursed to the beneficiaries or recipients of cash remittances and loan proceeds it earlier released to its teacher-borrowers, the deposit funds of the bank were eventually depleted causing its inability to service the withdrawals of its depositors. 

Consequently, on Feb. 8, 2007, the Monetary Board ordered the closure of RBCI and placed it under receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation.