THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas dismissed the case against Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. officials for lack of basis. — BW FILE PHOTO
THE BANGKO SENTRAL ng Pilipinas (BSP) dismissed a fraud complaint filed by a nonprofit organization against current and former officials of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) due to lack of basis.
The administrative case filed by Inang Nag-aaruga sa Anak Foundation and other complainants was dismissed by the BSP’s Investigation and Prosecution Group of the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services “for lack of basis, both in fact and in law,” RCBC said in a filing on Thursday, citing a BSP resolution dated Aug. 20.
Respondents include RCBC President and Chief Executive Officer Eugene S. Acevedo, current and former members of the bank’s board of directors, as well as Liza P. Arzaga, who was a former employee of the bank.
The complainants specifically cited Ms. Arzaga, a dismissed employee of the RCBC Garnet Business Center, for alleged fraud.
RCBC was not impleaded in the case, although the bank said it will monitor the answers of concerned former and current officials regarding the matter.
The bank said the case has “no material impact” on their business or operations.
The complaint versus the respondents was for their supposed violation of Republic Act (RA) 8791, otherwise known as the General Banking Law of 2000, in relation to Section 37 of RA 7653 or the New Central Bank Act, as amended.
Section 56 of RA 8791 lays out unsafe or unsound manners of conducting business that can result in material loss or damage to depositors, the BSP, or financial institutions.
The case was filed before the BSP in June last year by the non-profit organization represented by Pangasinan Representative Christopher P. de Venecia and his mother and former solon Ma. Georgina V. Perez-de Venecia.
Other complainants from the organization include Ma. Asuncion L. Yu, Ma. Teresa P. Cruz-Evangelista, Felipe Ferdinand P. Cruz III, Ma. Asuncion P. Ampil and Veronica F. Roxas.
The Yuchengco-led lender’s net earnings surged 117.83% to P1.747 billion in the second quarter from P802 million a year earlier, boosted by higher net interest income and lower provision for loan losses.
This brought the bank’s net profit for the first half of the year to P3.327 billion, up by 7% from P3.11 billion in the same period of 2020.
RCBC’s shares closed at P20.10 apiece on Thursday, up by 10 centavos or by 0.5%. — L.W.T. Noble