BANK OFFICER OF CLOSED BANK FOUND GUILTY OF FALSIFICATION

The Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC) of Las Piñas City found an officer of the now-closed People’s Rural Bank of Binmaley (Pangasinan), Inc. (PRBBI) guilty on four counts of Falsification of Commercial Documents in its decision on 05 February 2021.

The MeTC’s Branch 123 sentenced Juanita G. Altarez, former Area Head and Manager of PRBBI, to suffer imprisonment from one year and eleven days up to three years, six months, and twenty-one days for each count; and to pay a fine of Php 5,000.00 for each count, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.

The criminal cases arose from four fictitious loans approved by Altarez. Said loans were discovered by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) during their investigation of the bank, and are part of 142 fictitious loans amounting to Php 7.0 million granted by PRBBI-Las Piñas Branch and facilitated by Altarez.

The recent conviction follows her earlier conviction on 29 May 2019 by the Regional Trial Court of Las Piñas City, Branch 255, on four counts of violation of the General Banking Law of 2000 involving the same four fictitious loans, where Altarez was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and fined Php 100,000.00, for each count.

The BSP continues to promote financial stability through good governance among its supervised institutions to ensure the soundness of the banking system and to protect the interest of the banking public.

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