Trader denies involvement in $81-M money laundering

BATTLE OF LAWYERS Ramon Esguerra shows a text message of his client William Go in Makati City on Friday. At right, Ferdie Topacio says Maia Santos-Deguito will explain her side at the proper time and venue. RAFFY LERMA

Businessman William Go has denied being involved in an alleged $81-million money-laundering operation, claiming that the manager of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch on Jupiter Street, Makati, had forged his signature to open an account in his name at the bank.

In a press conference on Friday, Go’s lawyer Ramon Esguerra said the accounts in his client’s name at the RCBC Jupiter branch were bogus and that Go’s signatures were forged by the branch manager, Maia Santos-Deguito.

“Ms Santos [Deguito] admitted to me that she opened Centurytex’s RCBC accounts to facilitate the deposit of a substantial amount of US dollar remittance allegedly coming from Bangladesh, which she later converted to Philippine pesos. She said her actions were all cleared and allowed by RCBC ‘head office,’” Go said in a sworn statement that was distributed to the media at the press briefing.

Go did not appear at the press conference because of security reasons, his lawyer said.

Serendra meeting

In his sworn affidavit, Go said he is the sole proprietor of Centurytex Trading that services companies engaged in the importation of international garment brands.

The Centurytex account was the same one where all four accounts that received the $81 million remittance that is under investigation were consolidated, with the dollar deposits converted into pesos and transferred to other banks.

According to Esguerra, Deguito through another bank manager whom he declined to identify, requested a meeting with Go and during that meeting at a restaurant at Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, on Feb. 23, Deguito supposedly confessed to having opened an account in Go’s name.

Esguerra also said his client was offered millions of pesos by Deguito to “officially” close the account after an internal investigation of the bank into the money-laundering scheme had begun.

“There were overtures. He [Go] was offered at first P10 million. When he refused, it was increased to P20 million, which was again refused by my client,” Esguerra said.

Esguerra denied that his client had sent Deguito a text message instructing her to transfer the funds.

“Let me stress that having dealt with Mr. Go since 2004 and the basis of our communication also in texting, he never used the English language. He has difficulty actually communicating without using Taglish. I know when he talks over the phone, he actually speaks in Chinese to his other associates,” Esguerra said.

Manager’s affidavit

Asked to comment on Go’s accusations, Deguito’s lawyer Ferdie Topacio declined to directly answer the allegations. “My client will explain everything in the proper time,” he said in a phone interview.

But in her reply to a show-cause memo of the RCBC management in which she went into detail about the transactions relating to the P81-million remittance and her actions in relation to these (reported in the Inquirer yesterday), Deguito denied opening any fictitious bank accounts for Go.

She said she sought a meeting with the businessman to clarify his transactions with the subject accounts and his instructions to transfer funds. She denied having admitted to him any wrongdoing on her part.

Deguito’s affidavit included a screenshot of the alleged text from Go instructing her to transfer the funds from his dollar account to Philrem, the remittance firm that converted the funds to pesos and transferred them to other banks.

Old acquaintances

Esguerra said Go and Deguito had known each other before the latter joined RCBC. “Deguito was a former manager of an East West branch where my client had an account,” Esguerra said.

The meeting in February was the first that Go had with Deguito after she moved to RCBC, he said.

“We have written RCBC asking for an explanation—as early as March 2—to demand why this happened and why his name was used in opening the accounts. We’re still waiting for the bank to reply to us officially about this matter,” Go’s lawyer said.

Esguerra said they are seeking the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the alleged falsification of bank records and the forgery of Go’s signatures.

Esguerra also said his client claims he did not know the three other people linked to the alleged money-laundering scam, but is acquainted with a fifth, Chinese-Filipino businessman Kim Wong.

He also said that his client last visited a casino in Cebu province 10 years ago.

Esguerra said they were suing Deguito for falsification of documents and were looking into filing charges against RCBC.

“Initially, it will be falsification [of official documents]. And of course, I think the bank itself is on its way, after the initial investigation, to charge her for [violating] certain laws, banking laws, the rules and regulations of the Central Bank,” he said.

He added that his client will cooperate in any investigation and will attend the Senate inquiry if summoned.

Freeze order

Esguerra said that because of the issuance of the freeze order by the Court of Appeals, Go’s other businesses have been affected.

The lawyer said Go will not question the appellate court order on the account in question, but made an appeal that Go’s other accounts not related to the alleged scam be released.

“This has already affected his customs brokerage business and his checks have bounced,” Esguerra said.

Esguerra said they found out about the appellate court order on March 4 from Banco de Oro where Go had an account.

RELATED STORIES

Senate summons Tan, Go, Deguito

Dragged in money laundering probe, Wiliam Go mulls suing RCBC branch head