The Regional Trial Court in Bacolod City is set to arraign a former executive of the failed Nation Bank for estafa charges filed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Receiver of Nation Bank, a PDIC press release said.

The impending arraignment of Alexis Petralba at the Regional Trial Court Bacolod City, Branch 42 caps years of being on the run after jumping bail.

Petralba is co-accused, with Legacy owner Celso delos Angeles and lawyer Christine Cruz-Limpin, in a string of criminal cases pending before the courts. Delos Angeles is on hospital arrest while Limpin is at large. Petralba was also arraigned in the RTC Danao for two estafa cases involving Rural Bank of Carmen, Inc., another Legacy-affiliated bank, the press release said.

In the Bacolod case, based on the Information in Criminal Case No. 10-33594, delos Angeles, Petralba and Limpin conspired to defraud Nation Bank in the amount of P56 million through a combination of overt and criminal acts.

The complaint said, delos Angeles et al. made it appear that brothers Jose, Marciano, Nicolas, Jesus and Geronimo Solinap borrowed P56 million from the bank and used Hacienda Busay, a farmland located in Bago City, Negros Occidental, as collateral, the press release said.

However, the property was sold to delos Angeles for P37 million, of which only P30 million was actually paid to the Solinap brothers, it added.

The balance of the proceeds of the purported loan were found to have been diverted to the deposit account of delos Angeles maintained with Nation Bank.

The case’s Prosecutors also said that by manipulating the books of Nation Bank, it was made to appear that Nation Bank acquired Hacienda Busay through an undated Deed of Absolute Assignment. However, it was made to appear to have been sold by Nation Bank to Hacienda Busay, Inc., a corporation owned and controlled by delos Angeles via a Mortgage Contract Receivable in the much larger amount of P80 million payable in 15 years.

The accused also made it appear that Hacienda Busay Inc. made amortization payments to Nation Bank when the truth is that the “payments” were sourced from one of the savings accounts of delos Angeles which in turn, was funded by proceeds from fictitious motorcycle loans.

Delos Angeles, et al. also made it appear that the remaining balance of the purchase price of the hacienda in the amount of P64.76 million was fully settled by Hacienda Busay Inc. through an Amendment to Sales (Mortgage) Contract Receivable in August 2008 by assigning and conveying 33 properties, registered in the name of another closed Legacy bank, Rural Bank of Bais, Inc., the press release said.

The closure of the Legacy banks cost the government P11.7 billion in public funds which the PDIC used to pay deposit insurance claims.

The PDIC is not expecting to recover the billions of insurance payments made to depositors against the assets of the closed Legacy banks since the realizable value of their remaining assets was estimated at only P587.3 million.

PDIC, however, is vigorously pursuing cases against erring officials and owners of the Legacy banks to ensure that the accountable officers are put behind bars, the press release said.

The PDIC has filed 31 criminal complaints against delos Angeles and other Legacy banks officers for estafa, syndicated estafa and unsafe and unsound banking practices, it added.*

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