SCUTTLEBUTT

Two legislators have become the butt of jokes among the owners and employees of a private banking institution for their stupidity in trusting bank officials who colluded to fool them — an instance of karma.

Nosy Tarsee narrated that these lawmakers, a congressman from the northern part of the country and a senator who never learned from his previous wrongdoings, conspired to deposit a whopping P300 million in a private bank, which was dirty money for laundering.

“The lawmakers colluded with a manager of the private bank. They have a favorite restaurant in an affluent place in the metro where dirty transactions are sealed,” the source said.

The source disclosed that several deals took place at the restaurant on various occasions, as the lawmakers’ emissaries could not deposit or carry that huge amount of cash for a single transaction.

Their staff met the bank manager and his assistant to hand over millions of pesos to be deposited at the bank in tranches.

Every transaction occurred smoothly, with the bank staff handing over the validated deposit slips from the bank to the lawmakers’ staff during the meetings where out-of-bank deposits were made.

“One lazy morning, the senator went to the bank with some snacks for the staff. He wanted to impress them. Then a bank official had a little chitchat with the senator, asking why he seldom visited the branch. The lawmaker then asked an employee to check his balance,” the source narrated.

Upon seeing the amount, the lawmaker’s jaw dropped because the account held only P200,000.

So where was the money? Apparently, the bank manager and his staff carted away the corrupted amount, without leaving a trace of their whereabouts.

The senator then called the owner of the private bank who promised to investigate.

The senator said, “Just pay me and I won’t expose this.”

The bank owner, however, said no, as the transactions did not occur within his bank. “No trace, no receipts,” the source concluded, adding that the senator walked away, accepting the likelihood that he was screwed at his own game.