In another legal win for BSP, ex-owner of shuttered Laguna rural bank convicted of fraud

The central bank has scored another legal victory against erring bank officials after a court last month found the former owner of a shuttered Laguna-based rural bank guilty of fraud.

In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the Regional Trial Court of Sta. Cruz, Laguna convicted the former owner of the now closed Rural Bank of Victoria (Laguna) Inc. on 12 counts of estafa through falsification of commercial or public documents under the Revised Penal Code.

In its decision dated June 30, 2020, the court sentenced Gregorio S. Aguado to imprisonment of two to six years for each count of estafa. The jail terms will be served successively.

The court also ordered Aguado to indemnify the central bank the total amount of P3.072 million, with interest of 6 percent per year computed from the time the cases were filed in May 2004 until the amounts are fully paid.

The cases arose from a criminal complaint filed in 2002 by the BSP at the Department of Justice against Aguado for causing the falsification of the loan and related documents of fictitious borrowers of the Rural Bank of Victoria, and rediscounting the same fraudulent loans with the BSP.

Under the New Central Bank Act, BSP accepts rediscounting of loans from banks to help them liquify their loan portfolio.

Aside from the Rural Bank of Victoria, Aguado also owned Countryside Rural Bank (Real, Quezon), Inc.; Rural Bank of Agdangan (Quezon), Inc. and Rural Bank of San Narciso (Quezon), Inc.

All three banks have been closed and placed under receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation.

TSB