I’ll give it to you off the bounce
‘Cause I am not able to make the rounds.
Tarry and hear, tarry and hear,
The wall has ears, the wall has ears.
You’ll rue the tears, in all those years,
The day you forgot what big ears it’s got.
Mr. Rigoberto Tiglao writes in the Philippine Daily Inquirer his analysis of the report, allegedly from the Anti Money Laundering Council, pointing specifically the errors in interpretation of the figures, and the consequent conclusion he made about the deceptive power point presentation by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.
The following is his analysis, and if I might add, this is an amazing bit of sleuthing. It also concurs with my trend of thoughts about the report.
Colossal deception on Corona’s accounts
By: Rigoberto Tiglao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
1:30 am | Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales’ allegation that Chief Justice Renato Corona has $12 million in dollar accounts will go down in Philippine history as one of the biggest and most deviously constructed deceptions ever foisted on the public.
Morales unfortunately swallowed hook, line and sinker the deeply flawed analysis of raw data made by Heidi Mendoza, whom President Aquino deep-selected to overtake five officer-levels to become deputy commissioner of the Commission on Audit.
Morales’ allegations are based on two colossal errors. One involves confusing the meanings of “transactions” and “balances”; the other exploits laymen’s ignorance of banking transactions and how these are documented.
The first error actually was deliberate as Aquino’s operatives still had a big problem when they got raw data from the secretariat of Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). These didn’t report Corona’s bank balances but merely transactions, whose average amount per transaction for deposits was only $104,737, hardly eyebrow-raising. (The AMLC report, marked “For Intelligence Purpose Only,” however, has no authorship and its entries have no source document, which opens the possibility of its tampering.)
Morales—or Mendoza—therefore had to surreptitiously misrepresent “transactions” as “balances,” to generate significant amounts. This was done by a conceptual sleight of hand.
Morales’ PowerPoint presentation states: “The amounts appearing in the tabulation are not account balances but transaction balances.” This was a devious invention of a term in order that the sum of transactions would be confused with “balances,” so that Corona would appear to have huge bank accounts. Indeed, Morales would later on drop the “transaction” adjective, referring only to “aggregations,” “balances,” or “bank accounts.”
Transactions are the withdrawals and deposits on your bank account over time. The net result of these, what’s left, is your bank balance at a given time.
To illustrate, if I have P100,000 in my bank account and lend it out at a 5-percent interest rate for a month’s use to six borrowers consecutively, my bank balance at the end of six months would be P130,000. This is the sum of my initial P100,000 plus the interest of P5,000 earned for each of the six lending transactions.
For Morales though, my bank account would be 10 times more: P1.33 million. This is her “transaction balance” for the 13 transactions—my initial deposit of P100,000 plus P600,00 (the sum of six withdrawals of P100,000 each when I lend it) plus P630,000 (the sum of six deposits of P105,000 each when I’m repaid).
This is exactly how Morales arrived at Corona’s “$12 million dollar accounts.” The table below is a snapshot of how she did this, based on Corona’s 2004 banking transactions:
DATE DEPOSIT WITHDRAWALS
April 4 390,000
May 6 390,526
May 2 100,000
May 7 100,134
Aug 4 30,000
Sept 8 30,040
Aug 18 30,000
Sept 9 30,040
“Transaction Balance” 550,740 550,000
From this data, Morales claims that Corona’s dollar accounts for 2004 “aggregate” to $1.1 million—the sum of all deposit transactions ($550,740) and withdrawal transactions ($550,000). She does this kind of computations for the nine years 2003 to 2011, and—voila!—Corona’s bank accounts total $12 million. (Since we don’t know what the initial deposit was, determining what Corona’s balance was at end-2004 can only be a guess.)
Morales’ second colossal error is based on ignorance—a pretended one—of banking transactions and how these are documented.
Morales and the prosecution panel claimed that the fact that Corona had 82 dollar accounts indicated that the Chief Justice was trying to hide his money and may even have engaged in money laundering. In her presentation, Morales was aghast at her “significant observations”: “multiple accounts created for similar purpose!” “Circuitous fund movements”! “Deposit and withdrawal made on the same day!” Bankers have been laughing at such display of banking illiteracy.
There are 82 accounts—in nine years—since Corona or his fund manager has been active in generating as much earnings from his funds through the usual money market placements, each of which are reported as different accounts.
For example, in the table above, a 30-day placement amounting to $390,000 was made on April 4, reported in the AMLC data as another dollar account. The placement was terminated May 6, with $390,526 credited to Corona’s account—earning $526 in a month’s time. Mysterious deposits and withdrawals on the same day? These are either the usual overnight money market placements or documentation requirements on certain transactions.
So how much did Corona have in his bank accounts, and did he report this in his SALN? While only a guess, it would be the biggest and last of Corona’s banking transactions reported: $687,433.
That dollar amount is worth P29.4 million now. But in 2001 when the exchange rate was P51 to the dollar, that was equivalent to P35 million. Doesn’t that figure remind you of the P34.7 million payment by the Manila government for the Basa-Guidote property, which the Chief Justice’s better-half, Cristina Corona, received and claimed she was holding in trust, and therefore was not their asset?
E-mail: tiglao.inquirer@gmail.com
(bravo! Mr. Tiglao, ok ito!)
Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel
A couple more notches and she would be a stunning senator,
with or without Noynoy’s blessing.
If she becomes one, there will then be four ladies in the Senate,
namely, Pia Cayetano, Loren legarda, Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
They are all lovely, excepting Miriam Defensor-Santiago,
who is very lovely.
“I am not doing this for political reasons
even if I am running for mayor next year.”
The “Power” presentation of ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales was a boring, can’t-see-nothing on the screen.
Not unlike what she is saying, can’t see nothing.
And she’s got everything wrong.
It was correct in her asking for assistance in deciphering the entries in the AMLC report.
The error was in asking for Heidi Mendoza’s assistance.
Now they have two minds together with the same mediocrity in talents.
I can credit the Ombudsman for having hyperactive neurons that could perceive in advance the reactions of another individual, these neurons react so fast that they do not compute what they are supposed to be reacting for. This condition makes for a fast-thinking, and quick reflex as a defense mechanism. This, unfortunately, will be prone to errors when her neuron database is lacking data, namely, informative data such as in accounting procedures. Her field, alas, is in Law, and she is tops in this field.
But never she fret, I probably was mistaken, too, in that my first presumption was a remittance business for the Coronas. You know, dollar-in, peso-out? I now accept this mistake and point out to something else to explain his huge dollar deposit in the banks. He must have been in the money market, yeh. I was, too and I would recommend it particularly for those inside the Philippines. Banks have this money market deposit accounts wherein you can phone them whether to buy or sell the dollars which are in your account. You can also buy and sell in foreign currencies on those countries wheer your bank has foreign correspondent banks.
The Coronas have money to invest with—-the money held in trust for Cristina’s corporation , no?
(Good ol’ crystal ball)
The reaction to the Power Point presentation of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales—-
The stupid remark of the day is :
if you did not do anything wrong,
you have nothing to fear from the Gestapo!
Oh yeah? Think about the time you have to spend convincing them that you really did not do anything wrong!
The Philippine Senate woke up that afternoon to realize that they have created monsters in the form of AMLC and Ombudsman. And together, these two government offices form a supermonster akin to what we once called GESTAPO. This nazi outfit was virtually unstoppable in collecting information about people and penalizing them for whatever info is collected. As proof of this similarity, the Ombudsman, using an AMLC selective report, ran roughshod over the Bank Secrecy Act, a hitherto impenetrable shelter for foreign investors in the Philippines.
The drafters of the Constitution made another gruesome mistake, in that they provided too much discretionary powers on these two offices, and less on the important ones. Together, these two offices have become unstoppable, and that their actions are initiated on whimsical decisions.
More significantly, the members of the Senate find themselves in the unique quandary of finding ways to correct the problem of the juggernauts that they created. Before the Carpio interpretation of the AMLC selective report, some proponents of the Corona impeachment movement attempted to bolster the side of the prosecution by their blatant support of same. The respondent, Chief Justice Renato Corona, was portrayed as a Godzilla monster who abused his position to enrich himself. If they have studied closely this Godzilla monster as portrayed by the Japanese animation, Godzilla is the hero that saves the people in the end.
Now, and by analogy, the members of the Senate finally realized that the branch of the government that is the ultimate protector of the people’s rights is the Justice Department, and not Congress, nor Malacanang. Renato Corona is right when he defended the prevalence of the rule of law, and declared that he will defend it no matter what the cost.
According to Miriam Senator Defensor-Santiago, an ICJ judge, the Philippine Constitution is intended to protect the people not the government. The Constitution seeks to control the powers of the government to protect the rights of the people.
Presently, the Senators are collecting their wits to ponder upon the priority between that of impeaching CJ Corona and that of protecting the country against the Gestapo monster of their own creation. Their sentiments will now be reinforced.
God Save.
Sure I’m on Twitter.
But this is for people of few words.
While I am not usisero or tsismoso,
I am not a man of few words,
Darn it!
Of course I’m on twitter, Jack
Buit don’t follow me on twitter, Jack
Because if you did follow me on twitter, Jack
You will have to find your way back,
Jack.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales goes to the stand again as hostile witness for the Corona defense because the court deemed that she was extremely tired yesterday from reading the report of the AMLC and mostly due to incessant arguing with the direct examiner Cuevas. We most certainly hope that she will not be further duped by the AMLC report to form conclusions in grave error so much so as to publicize her incapability of being an Ombudsman.
The AMLC report do focus on the deposits and withdrawals of some accounts allegedly owned by Renato Corona, and by purpose, ignore the other smaller transactions pertinent to the bank statements generated by the accounts in question.
She must need eyeglasses, or those that magnify the makings of a business enterprise in operation that uses these accounts, 82 in all, situated in strategic business locations. She must have failed to see one transaction wherein a $10,000 withdrawal from a mother account was returned with $10,155- something, the extra $155 being the interest earned by the $10,000. She probably is only bent on running up a total of $10 million total in those accounts to confirm what she spread all over the media.
She should have suspected the amounts that do not move from the start would be the capitalization, or a security deposit for, perhaps a credit line from the bank. This stagnant amount could also represent the contributions of shareholders or partners of the business and may even include the bank itself as a partner.
But Carpio said she had the help of the COA auditors to analyse the AMLC Report, and mentioned particularly Heidi Mendoza.
So enter the famous cry baby Heidi Mendoza, now appointed to a higher position in the government Commission on Audit., or was it GAO?
Anyway, the senators should take note that crying in the Senate does help to get some favors and concessions in the future.
Auditor Heidi Mendoza, referring to her analysis of the AMLC report on Renato Corona, mentioned 450 transactions, a number in conflict with what Carpio declared as 700 transactions.
But both mesdames seem to have analyzed and audited a report, not a bank ledger nor a bank statement. They failed to realize that the AMLC report, being a report, will be selective in the transactions included. One does not audit, nor even examine, a report, much less a selective report. One audits or examines a ledger or a bank statement.
This is what my crystal ball says. 
So the Ombudsman made a powerpoint presentation of the Amlc report that seeks to prove that CJ’s bank balance is $12 million.
Of course, since this is an AMLC report, she would not have the competence to certify the transactions.
Only the banks can do this by presenting signed checks debit/credit memos, microfilms and certified bank statements.
It w would be a very good decision if the Chief Justice would come out now to bring these bank documents.
But the question is, if the AMLC report is fake, what happens now?
——————————————————————————————————
AHAH! I think my hunch may prove to be correct! It is not his money.
From the looks of it, Mrs. Corona (with perhaps the knowledge of the CJ) is engaged in business of currency exchange or loans and interests, dollar remittances or whatever. This business requires her to borrow money from the bank with the amount deposited into a mother account. From these mother accounts, money is transferred to the peripheral accounts each of which may be representing some form of a credit line for other person/s. The total earnings from these peripheral accounts are deposited back to the mother accounts as repayment for the loan from the bank with interest. The money deposited to the mother accounts become bigger and bigger corresponding to the amount of loans from the bank.
This AMLC report did not mention the source of the deposits to the mother bank. If it did, it would have been realized that the deposits were actually loans from the bank to be repayed.
The AMLC will report these loans only if there is a limit exceeded to the amount loaned to Mrs. Corona.
(i think i gotta bring out my crystal ball more often)
Conchita Carpio-Morales testifies as a hostile witness for the defense at the Corona Impeachment Trial, bringing with her a 17-page copy of the Anti-money laundering examiners.
So the Bangko Sentral bank examiners, or rather, the AMLC examiners proved their worth after all by gathering this evidence, notwithstanding the fact that banks are folding up even after they examine them.
The 17-page AMLC report that alleges that Corona has $10 million dollars in various bank accounts. It appears that the Impeachment Court will consider this amount as undeclared assets of the Chief Justice, even though it is protected from being disclosed by the Bank Secrecy Act.
Furthermore, the amount of money deposited may not even be his money because if he acts as Attorney-in-Fact, it is not unusual for him to administer transaction money under his trust. This fact may be proven by scanning the document for cash-in cash-out transactions wherein the money just passes his hands. Further examination of the accounts may prove that the the resulting balance between debit and credit will total zero. This would be something like a 45-property report instead of a 5-property report.
Otherwise, where would he get this kind of foreign currency. It must not be his money after all.
Blame the AMLC again. its iob is to raise the alarm whenever some accounts go up a certain amount in dolllars. With $10 million, why did they not raise the alarm.
