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Bank accounts belie Bolante's no fund scam claim

by RICKY CARANDANG, ABS-CBN News | 11/19/2008 11:45 PM

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"There is no such thing as a fertilizer fund scam," former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyn 'Joc-joc' Bolante said at the House probe hearing on Tuesday. 

Bolante denied there were anomalies in the disbursement of fertilizer funds as alleged by the Senate. His statement was consistent with his claim in the Senate that he was not aware of any anomalies in the use of the money.

But documents obtained by ABS-CBN News contradict Bolante's claims.

In 2006, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) investigated allegations related to the fertilizer fund distribution and found that Bolante was directly involved in anomalies.

The AMLC discovered that Bolante had as many as 23 personal bank accounts which were "part of the web of transactions" involving the so- called fertilizer fund scam.

"His bank accounts are included in the web of transactions related to the fertilizer fund," Vicente Aquino, executive director of the AMLC, told ABS-CBN News.  

"That is quite unusual for me. Normally, an individual only has two to three bank accounts... The funds came from other accounts that have been the subject of an inquiry by the Anti-Money Laundering Council," Aquino said.

But when asked directly, Aquino declined to say if the money that passed through Bolante's accounts was a kickback.

But the funds in Bolante's accounts were not the only dubious transactions.

The AMLC also found that money flowed into what appear to be bogus foundations.

From April 2004 until July 2005, P173 million went into the Molugan Foundation, while P116 million was deposited into the Assembly of Gracious Samaritans Foundation.

Millions also went into other foundations.

A check by ABS-CBN News showed that many of the foundations have already had their registrations revoked by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

All the foundations also appear to have been set up by the same people. 

The evidence gathered by the AMLC was sufficient for the Court of Appeals to order a freeze on these accounts.

Aquino said their investigation is ongoing.

"We are actually the last stage of the investigation, and hopefully,  we will be able to finish this before the year is over," Aquino said.

Aquino maintained, once completed, the findings will be forwarded to the office of the Ombudsman for appropriate action.

as of 11/20/2008 12:07 AM