Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Yasay arrested for allegedly violating banking laws

The Manila Police District (MPD) arrested former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay yesterday for allegedly violating banking laws when he was still working as a director of Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank, which ceased operations in 2011.

Also the former secretary of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Yasay was arrested for allegedly violating Republic Acts 8791 and 7653, or the General Banking Law and the New Central Bank Act, according to The Philippine Daily Inquirer. The MPD said that a lawyer from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the country’s central bank) had asked for their help in implementing the warrant of arrest issued against Yasay by Judge Danilo Leyva of the Manila Regional Trial Court.

Yasay allegedly conspired with five other associates at the Banco Filipino from 2003 to 2006 to secure a PHP350 million (US$6.69 million) loan for a company named Tierrasud Incorporated, which is owned by Tropical Land Corporation. Yasay and his cohorts allegedly failed to report the loan to the BSP, despite repeated requests from the regulatory body for them to do so, Rappler reports.

The BSP filed the police complaint against Yasay and his alleged cohorts back in April 2011 for allegedly falsifying documents, granting loans illegally, and other violations of banking laws.

However, Yasay’s detention at the MPD proved short-lived.

The ex-diplomat was rushed to the Manila Doctors Hospital after he experienced chest pains last night. In a Facebook post, Yasay said the hospital had granted him a pass to attend his bail hearing today, and also rejected Rappler‘s report about his involvement in Banco Filipino’s loan case, describing it as “malicious.”

Yasay served as President Rodrigo Duterte’s first foreign affairs secretary for about nine months, but his appointment was ultimately rejected following a review by the Commission on Appointments on March 2017 due to questions about his citizenship. Yasay admitted that he was granted American citizenship in 1986, but insists that it has since been declared void.

 

 



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