TWO Bataan courts recently convicted former officers of the now-closed Orani Rural Bank (Bataan) Inc. (Orani RB) for violating banking laws and the Revised Penal Code, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The BSP said the banking laws that were violated by the officers of the Orani RB were The General Banking Law of 2000 or Republic Act (RA) 8791 as well as The Rural Banks Act of 1992 or RA 7353.
The officers of Orani RB were convicted for their participation in the creation of 10 fictitious loans amounting to P6.928 million by falsifying the loan and related documents of the alleged borrowers, discovered by the BSP during an investigation of Orani RB’s loan transactions after its closure.
“The BSP promotes good governance among banks in line with its broader efforts to ensure the soundness of the financial system and to protect the interest of the public,” the BSP said.
RTC-Balanga found the accused officers of Orani RB guilty beyond reasonable doubt of 10 counts of violation of Section 55.1(a) of The General Banking Law of 2000, as penalized under Section 36 of RA 7653 (The New Central Bank Act).
Each officer was sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of a minimum of two years and one day to a maximum of four years for each count.
RTC-Balanga also found an officer guilty beyond reasonable doubt of one count of violation of Section 26 of the Rural Banks Act of 1992 and was sentenced the same penalty.
BSP said MCTC-Orani-Samal the officers guilty beyond reasonable doubt of falsification of commercial or public documents under Article 172(1), in relation to Article 171(2) of the RPC.
They each sentenced to suffer the penalty of imprisonment of three months minimum, to one year and one day, maximum, and to pay a fine of P5,000, which will be converted to imprisonment in case of failure of payment.
