Officers Of Closed Synergy Rural Bank Convicted

The Regional Trial Court-Lipa City (RTC-Lipa City) and Municipal Trial Court in Cities-Lipa City (MTCC-Lipa City) convicted former officers of the closed Synergy Rural Bank Inc. (Synergy Bank) on five counts of violation of the General Banking Law of 2000 in relation to the New Central Bank Act, as amended; and one count of violation of the Revised Penal Code.

Photo Insert: The fictitious loans amounted to P2.51 million.

The courts convicted former officers of the closed bank based on charges filed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its decision dated 07 September 2021, RTC-Lipa City sentenced former president and chairman of Synergy Bank Herman S. Villalobos to pay a total fine of P200,000.00, and its former compliance officer Danilo D. Tobias to pay a total fine of P150,000.00.

Likewise, on 07 September 2021, MTCC-Lipa City sentenced Villalobos to one-year imprisonment for one case, and to a minimum imprisonment of six months to a maximum of two years and four months for another case. He is also sentenced to pay a fine of Php10,000.00.

The criminal cases stemmed from a Directors, Officers, Stockholders and Related Interests (DOSRI) loan granted to Tobias in violation of approval, reportorial and ceiling requirements for DOSRI loans provided under the law, as well as a fictitious loan application which the BSP discovered during its investigation of the bank’s transactions.

The loans amounted to P2.51 million.

The BSP is committed to ensuring banks’ compliance with the law while maintaining the soundness of the financial system and protecting the public interest through the implementation of good governance practices among its supervised financial institutions.

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