Court convicts former rural bank bookkeeper

The Regional Trial Court of Bayawan City (RTC-Bayawan) and the Municipal Trial Court in Cities of Bayawan City (MTCC-Bayawan) convicted a former bookkeeper of the now closed Rural Bank of Bayawan (Negros Oriental), Inc. (RB Bayawan) for violation of The General Banking Law of 2000 and the Revised Penal Code.

The court convicted the bank’s former bookkeeper, Mary Grace M. Tito, based on a criminal complaint filed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In an order dated 09 August 2021, RTC-Bayawan sentenced Tito to imprisonment of six months for each of the ten counts of Engaging or Participating in Prohibited or Fraudulent Transactions, which Tito pleaded guilty to. 

In its decision dated 09 August 2021, MTCC-Bayawan also sentenced Tito to imprisonment of a minimum of four months to a maximum two years, and to pay a fine of Php 2,000.00 for each count, after she pleaded guilty to all ten counts of Falsification of Commercial/Public Documents.

The criminal cases arose from the participation of accused Tito in the processing, approval, and grant by RB Bayawan of ten fictitious loans totaling Php 1,705,000.00.

The BSP discovered the fraudulent loans during an investigation of the bank’s loan transactions after its closure.

The BSP is committed to maintaining the soundness of the financial system and protecting public interest through the implementation of good governance practices among its supervised financial institutions.