The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed two qualified theft and one case for violation of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation charter for conducting business in an unsafe and unsound manner against top officers of the closed Penafrancia Rural Bank of Calabanga (Camarines Sur) Inc. (PRBCI).

Its former president and manager, officer-in-charge and cashier, internal auditor as well as the former loan officer, teller, and bookkeeper were all charged of embezzling the bank.

All of the cases are based on the complaint filed by the PDIC with the DoJ and are now pending with the Regional Trial Court, Branch 63 in Calabanga, Camarines Sur.

The criminal information stated the bank officials betrayed the confidence bestowed on them as officers and employees when they willfully took P557,044.05 received by PRBCI as deposits.

Likewise, they were all charged with conducting business in an unsafe or unsound manner when the accused intentionally did not record them. Their actions contradicted the generally accepted standards of prudent operation to the damage and prejudice of the lender, the PDIC and the general public.

The DoJ earlier issued a resolution finding the respondents manipulated bank records by making it appear the deposits aggregating P557,044.05 were “canceled” and that the certificates of time deposits issued were declared “missing.”

Qualified theft is a crime defined under Article 310 of the Revised Penal Code, while conducting business in an unsafe or unsound manner is a violation of Republic Act 3591, as amended, or the PDIC Charter.

PRBCI was ordered closed by the Monetary Board (MB) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on 10 December 2015. The MB also designated PDIC as statutory receiver.

The filing of cases against the officials is in support of PDIC’s efforts to bring to justice parties that engage in anomalies, irregularities and fraud that pose risk to depositors and the Deposit Insurance Fund, PDIC’s main fund source for payout of deposit insurance claims.

PDIC continues to pursue legal action against bank officials and personnel who engage in unsafe and unsound banking practices that threatens the stability of the banking system.