Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera wants to initiate a probe in aid of legislation to protect the public from bank or electronic scams.
“With bank scams being a hot topic before 2021 ended, the extent and limits of a bank’s liability during scamming incidents must clearly be defined,” she said.
“Needless to say, this is by no means a witch-hunt, or a fault-finding endeavor. Every stakeholder will surely bring valuable, if not actionable, insights to the dialogue,” she added.
She cited a scam involving a dismissed RCBC branch manager who allegedly defrauded millions of pesos from multiple clients.
One of the victims was the Inang Nag-Aaruga sa Anak Foundation, a non-profit organization helping women, especially mothers, in need.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued two resolutions clearing RCBC’s executives of any liability, but the case was escalated to the Court of Appeals.
“What makes this case a good starting point for a legislative inquiry is that the BSP’s decision, despite clearing the accused, actually acknowledged that a scam was perpetrated in RCBC’s offices, by a then-active branch manager,” the party-list lawmaker said.
Last week, the National Bureau of Investigation announced the arrest of five people, two of whom are Nigerian nationals, for their involvement in the “Mark Nagoyo Heist Group” that was responsible for hacking Banco de Oro, affecting more than 700 customers.
In a statement, NBI Officer-In-Charge Director Eric Distor identified the suspects as Ifesinachi Fountain Anaekwe a.k.a. Daddy Champ, Chukwuemeka Peter Nwadi, Jherom Anthony Taupa, Ronelyn Panaligan, and Clay S. Revillosa.
In December, initial reports suggested an unknown group perpetrated a massive heist involving BDO and more than 700 of its customers.
Reports said the group was able to access customers’ bank accounts while supposedly bypassing the One-Time-Pin requirement and drained funds in those accounts.
Email confirmations for the bulk of the illegal transfers showed that they were made by a certain Mark D. Nagoyo.