SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV’s stash of money from his offshore accounts may be used to destabilize the government, President Rodrigo Duterte claimed Friday as he exposed the former’s supposed bank transactions from a Singapore bank account he claimed as non-existent.
“Based on analysis, the funds being laundered by Trillanes and his group may not be for their personal use, but rather…for their cause and possibly to destabilize government by paying for witnesses and funding for destabilization operations,” the President told state-run television station PTV-4.
Duterte said the senator’s associates, whom he claimed were extorting money from some senators and large corporations, were the ones backrolling efforts to throw him out of office.
While claiming previously that he “invented” Trillanes’ supposed Singapore bank account numbers in DBS Bank in Alexandra Road, the President insisted his top critic had closed the Singapore bank accounts even days before he brought members of the media in an effort to debunk his claims.
“He terminated it [sic] online on Sept. 8, 2017 past 10 p.m. then left for Singapore,” Duterte said, as he showed documents amounting to SGD 200,000 or more than P7.4 million”•showing the transfer of money from Trillanes’ bank accounts.
Waving a matrix showing Trillanes’ supposed bank transactions, Duterte showed at least 30 international transfers from various sources to Trillanes’ bank accounts.
The details of the bank transactions were aired during the flagship newscast of PTV-4’s evening newscast, but were edited out later when the full interview was aired Friday night.
“Yung itong bank account na blue, yun yung nagbigay ng pera. Tapos siguro yun ang nagbigay kasi ano siya, co-depositor. Itong mga pera na ito. Arturo Ang Chua, [another name], Michelle Sy, Patrick Go. International transfer, kita niyo amount. John Gomez,” Duterte said in Filipino.
Showing snippets, some of the international transfers of an undisclosed currency, came from the following bank transactions:
March 17, 2016 worth 8,552.45 from CITIBANK N A – DUBAI MN BR, with account number 77529 11048 003 from a certain JOHN D GOMEZ
March 29, 2016 worth 20,572.58 from BANK OF CHINA – SHANGHAI BR, with account number 55289 03781 25 6 from a certain ZHAO WU JIAN
May 2, 2016 worth 12,361.90 from AUB – SHANGHAI BR, with account number 38105 26647 1 58 from a certain OLIVER RHODES
May 17, 2016 worth 15,992.15 from MAY BANK “•JOHOR BR, with account number 44019 71048 0 26 from a certain SHIEN NIY BEE
November 16, 2016 worht 14,743.10 from BDO-HK, with account number 18602 93700 1 38 from a certain HUANG SY TIENG
March 10, 2017 worth 29,173.10 from HSBC – SHANGHAI BR, with account number 00315 91652 1 93 from a certain LI QUE ZHANG
Another bank transaction came from a certain MICHELLE L. SY / PATRICK S. GO, but the exact details were not shown.
The President also revealed more details on where the amounts were transferred, including the names of his co-depositors like a “Fabian Go” and a “Roberto Fong”.
A withdrawal dated June 23, 2015 worth 40,000.00 and was transferred to BANK OF COMMUNICATION – HK BR, with account number 31905 67150 1 83 under joint account ROBERT FONG / JUAN ANTONIO F. TRILLANES
A withdrawal dated October 7, 2015 worth 55,750.00 and was transferred to BANK OF COMMUNICATION – HK BR, with account number 31905 67150 1 83 under joint account ROBERT FONG / JUAN ANTONIO F. TRILLANES
A withdrawal dated January 19, 2016 worth 36,500.00 and was transferred to BANK OF EAST ASIA – HK MN BR, with account number 20142 88710 9 2 4 under joint account FABIAN GO / ROBERTO FONG
A withdrawal dated April 15, 2016 worth 45,000.00 and was transferred to BANK OF EAST ASIA – HK MN BR, with account number 20142 88710 9 2 4 under joint account FABIAN GO / ROBERTO FONG
A withdrawal dated July 11, 2016 worth 52,850.00 and was transferred to BANK OF EAST ASIA – HK MN BR, with account number 20142 88710 9 2 4 under joint account FABIAN GO / ROBERTO FONG
A withdrawal dated December 13, 2016 worth 46,350.00 and was transferred to BANK OF EAST ASIA – HK MN BR, with account number 20142 88710 9 2 4 under joint account FABIAN GO / ROBERTO FONG
A withdrawal dated April 5, 2017 worth 35,700.00 and was transferred to BANK OF EAST ASIA – HK MN BR, with account number 20142 88710 9 2 4 under joint account FABIAN GO / ROBERTO FONG
“Yung Red, doon niya nilipat. So ‘yung fund transfer withdrawal is 40 [thousand] kay Juan Antonio F. Trillanes pati Robert Fong. Ewan ko kung sino yun. Fund transfer withdrawal 36,000. Bank of East Asia Hong Kong. Kasi Manila Branch na ito,” the President added in a mix of Filipino and English.
“Fabian Go, Roberto Fong tapos April 15, 2016. Fund transfer . Fabian Go, Roberto Fong,” he added.
Duterte reiterated that most of the bank transactions were unusually small, as not to attract attention from money-laundering watchdogs.
He added that a single foreign government gave him the information on Trillanes’ supposed bank records.
On Friday, Trillanes’ dismissed as “inventions” Duterte’s latest claims about his supposed offshore bank accounts.
Trillanes added he was willing to sign waivers for these new supposed accounts.
“Nonetheless, first thing on Monday, I would sign waivers for these accounts so that the AMLC can look into and examine them. Wala nang drama kasi wala akong tinatago. What about you Mr. Duterte kelan ka magpapakalalaki at pipirma ng waivers?” he added in a mix of Filipino and English.
Trillanes has filed a suit against Duterte before the Office of the Ombudsman, accusing the Chief Executive of having hidden wealth in his bank accounts.
