NBI IMPLICATES PING WIFE

Alice Lacson 'Transferred Dollars' To California Bank

THE wife of Sen. Panfilo Lacson closed the couple's dollar account in PCI
Equitable Bank and deposited the money in a bank at the height of the
impeachment trial of then president Joseph Estrada, National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco said yesterday.

Wycoco did not say the exact amount of dollars Alice Lacson allegedly
withdrew from the bank's branch in Greenhills, but he gave a ballpark
figure of in the "thousands."

The record of the transaction made by Mrs. Lacson was one of the documents
contained in a report submitted by the US Attorney General's Office to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) through the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), Wycoco said.

"The bank transaction happened between October and December in 2000," he said.

The Manila Times tried to reach Sen. Lacson but he refused to answer phone
calls or return text messages.

Government prosecutors are trying to build a case of money-laundering
against Lacson, saying the money he stashed in banks abroad came from
criminal activities.

Lacson maintains he had only $200,000 in a bank deposit in the United
States and that the money was meant to finance a business venture that did
not push through.

He said he closed the account in 1997.

Wycoco said the documents from the Attorney General's Office dispute
Lacson's claim. As late as June 5 last year, Mrs. Lacson withdrew $200,000
from her account in the Bank of America in California.

Wycoco said that based on the report from the Attorney General's Office,
the Lacsons still keep about $700,000 in three branches of the Bank of
America and one branch of Wells Fargo Bank in California.

The NBI is also gathering evidence to support a case of perjury against
Lacson saying he underdeclared his net worth in his 1997 Statement of
Assets and Liabilities.

There are documents showing that Lacson withdrew $246,000 from the Bank of
America just last December, contrary to his statement that he closed all
his bank accounts abroad in 1998, Wycoco said.

Aside from the $246,000 withdrawal, Wycoco said, there was another
transaction last year where Lacson issued a $50,000 check to a Toyota car
dealer in the United States.

He added that another document also showed that a Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corp. (HSBC) was also used as a conduit in transferring another
account.

The NBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) believe the Lacsons still have
more than $1 million in still undiscovered accounts abroad.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez ordered the NBI to evaluate the evidence
provided by the Americans.

The DOJ sought the FBI's assistance after Intelligence Services for the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) chief Col. Victor Corpus revealed
last year that Lacson and his wife had at least $728 million stashed in 18
savings and checking accounts in Hong Kong, United States and Canada.

The money, Corpus said, allegedly came from Lacson's involvement in such
criminal activities as kidnapping-for-ransom and drug trafficking.