DBP Lawyer Commits Suicide

[Monseratto]

PNoy et al obsession to pin down the previous administration...

No foul play in DBM lawyer's death -- police
By Dennis Carcamo Home
Updated August 03, 2011 10:01 AM

MANILA, Philippines - A police official said today that there is "strong evidence" that Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) lawyer Benjamin Pinpin committed suicide.

"He's inside te comfort room of the hotel room, lying face down with a nylon cord tied around his neck," Las Piñas City police chief, Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula, told philstar.com in a phone interview.

The body of Pinpin, 43, was found by policemen inside the comfort room of the Eurotel in Las Piñas City yesterday.

Sapitula said Pinpin also left suicide notes for his wife Amelia, his children and mother before taking his own life.

He said the DBP lawyer dropped his two children to school Monday morning then hugged them long and tight before getting on his vehicle.

"His wife became worried when he did not come home in the afternoon, which he usually does, so she called for our assistance," Sapitula said.

Amelia also called her husband's office, but the DBP staff told her that he was not still in, the police official added.

"Later we traced his vehicle parked in the parking lot of the hotel," Sapitula said.

He said that scene-of-the-crime investigators noted that Pinpin was already "less than six hours dead" when they found his body.

"He apparently hanged himself using the nylon cord which snapped because it was thin," Sapitula said.

In a statement issued yesterday, DBP chairman Jose Nuñez Jr. said that police have initially told them that Pinpin's death was "under unusual circumstances."

Nuñez hinted that the timing of Pinpin's death was suspicious since he was involved in a "crucial investigation concerning previous questionable transactions."

"So, we are hoping that his passing had nothing to do with that," the DBP chairman said.

He said Pinpin was a key player in the DBP legal office. He added that the lawyer was a second generation employee of the bank since his mother was the DBP dentist.

"President Francisco del Rosario Jr., the whole DBP Board and I are in agreement that Atty. Pinpin is a key player in the DBP legal office and a big loss to the bank," Nuñez said.

[oliver1013]

I think 90+% of pinoys want to pin down the previous admin that's why Pnoy won...ikaw ayaw mo bang ipakulong ang taong ninakawan ka?

Nahuli ng mga pulis ang akyat bahay gang member na nagnakaw ng flat screen TV mo ayaw mo pakulong?

[Monseratto]

It would be nice to see the Arroyos and their minions behind bars, but I hope the student council won't do it it through coercion, threat or trump up evidences... I guess the poor lawyer couldn't take the pressure that's why he decided the easiest way out.

[niwde11]

It would be nice to see the Arroyos and their minions behind bars, but I hope the student council won't do it it through coercion, threat or trump up evidences... I guess the poor lawyer couldn't take the pressure that's why he decided the easiest way out.

+1. but the student council thing will always be a wish.

[badsekktor]

i see things differently.... tying up loose ends maybe?

[oliver1013]

Wala pa naman lumalabas na nagsasabing na coerce siya or may threat kaya kumanta....so until that happens, all is good..

[Ry_Tower]

i see things differently.... tying up loose ends maybe?

Tingin ko din may pressure na siya or family niya. Kaya loose ends yan. Gaya ni Gen, hindi kinaya yung pang-iiwan sa ere.

[Ry_Tower]

I think 90+% of pinoys want to pin down the previous admin that's why Pnoy won...ikaw ayaw mo bang ipakulong ang taong ninakawan ka?

Nahuli ng mga pulis ang akyat bahay gang member na nagnakaw ng flat screen TV mo ayaw mo pakulong?

+1,000,000!

TAMA! Mainit talaga topic na yan pero dapat kasi mapakita sa taongbayan na may matinong hustisya pa rin if gusto talaga. Kahit dyan na lang makabawi si Pnoy. Magsikap na lang mga negosyante at middle class para hindi tuluyang lumobog pinas.

[eld]

I think 90+% of pinoys want to pin down the previous admin that's why Pnoy won...

That or Pinoys are just stupid voters? :laughbounce:

[Monseratto]

Again, the lawyer was not under investigation. He was tasked to come out with the dirt the previous DBP board may have done and link it to the previous administration. He was under a lot of pressure by the present board that drove him to commit suicide.
e.

[oliver1013]

He killed himself because he was pressured to produce something out of nothing?

Eother this guy is really weak or he knows something that will implicate powerful people...but i doubt na weak lang, this guy is trying to hide something.

[Monseratto]

Parang he was being set-up, he was being used to pin down the previous board. He was being threatened/BLACKMAILED with a criminal case if he does not "cooperate"...

DBP lawyer 'pressured' to testify against former bank execs
abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines - The chief legal counsel of Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) confirmed that the bank lawyer who was found dead in an apparent suicide on Tuesday was caught up in an ongoing investigation aimed at pinning down previous management for alleged anomalous transactions.

ABS-CBN News quoted Belinda Tejada as saying that lawyer Benjamin Pinpin wrote about his predicament in a letter to his wife before he took his own life. Pinpin was reportedly being pressured to sign a document that would divulge highly irregular transactions approved by the previous DBP bosses, including a P500-million loan awarded to a reputable businessman.

Tejada, in an interview, said the witch hunt forced Pinpin to commit suicide.

"I know for a fact that the real target here is the previous administration, previous board of directors... especially former president Reynaldo David," she said.

Pinpin, 43, strangled himself with a nylon cord in a bathroom of a Eurotel hotel along Zapote-Alabang Road in Las Piñas City on Tuesday, police said.

The DBP said in a statement that Pinpin appeared to have died "under unusual circumstances" and that he was part of a probe into "previous questionable transactions" made by the bank. Reports earlier said Pinpin was also among more than a dozen people who received show-cause letters from the new DBP board in relation to the questionable transactions.

Pinpin's wife, Amy, said her husband was under a lot of pressure. "Yung asawa ko talaga pressured. So the pressure he has been feeling, and I understand that, if I were in his situation, probably I'd do the same."

President Benigno Aquino III has ordered Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima to find out whether the investigative process at DBP has become "overzealous."

“If they have been overzealous, we will rein them in. But if they are performing something that is necessary... ‘Yung zealousness of the board also is to get a handle as soon as possible on what has transpired," he said.

Current DBP president Francisco del Rosario, for his part, said he will ensure that due process is given to anyone involved in the investigation.

"I would like to make sure that everyone is given fair treatment," he noted.

[Monseratto]

His morality got the better of him.

MANILA, Philippines - Several hours after Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) lawyer Benjamin Pinpin was found dead last Tuesday, his wife Amy found a letter from her husband.

In it, Pinpin revealed how upset he was about being investigated for a P510-million loan granted to a businessman during the past DBP administration. He said he did not want his family to be affected by the controversy.

“I come to the end. I don't want my family to bear this problem.”

He also expressed fear that he would be charged for graft.

"Being indicted for graft is the worst thing for me. All I wanted was to have a clean, simple life.....that's an example I want to leave to my children.”

Pinpin worked in the documentation division of the DBP. That’s why his wife does not believe he could influence any loan granted by the bank.

“I thought I was helping my family by saving my job...but in the end, I lost my dignity and credibility, and I will lose them, too,” Pinpin wrote.

His letter also indicated that he was being forced to do something that he did not want to do. He said because of this, he lost his dignity and his loved ones.

He apologized to his family and told them to move on.

"...sorry for my family for giving you so much pain, but this will pass and you must move on. I love you very much. Please pray for me. – Benjie.”

DBP chief: Exclude Pinpin

Meanwhile, DBP President Francisco del Rosario said he had voiced his opposition to the board's investigation of Pinpin.

He said 20 employees were given show cause memos in connection to the questionable loan.

“I was for a limited show cause to 5 or 6, because it will create climate of fear,” del Rosario said.

He added he does not believe Pinpin had anything to do with the case.

"I don't believe that Pinpin should have been included in the investigation,” he said.

Other DBP employees are affected by Pinpin's death. They're also concerned that the reputation of the institution they work for has been tarnished.

Controversial loan

Del Rosario Jr. also told reporters that Pinpin was agonizing about a loan that DBP extended to Delta Venture Resources Inc. (DVRI), a company led by businessman Roberto Ongpin.

In a special report last May, abs-cbnNEWS.com published "DBP-Ongpin-Philex controversial deals detailed," which discussed a controversial loan extended by DBP to DVRI amounting to P510 million.

DVRI used the loan proceeds to purchase the bank's shares in Philex Mining, a listed company that the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan wanted to control.

The loan and the stock transactions occurred in late-2009.

DBP was then led by its president, veteran banker Reynaldo David.

David had said all the transactions followed banking rules and passed through necessary credit checks. He also said the bank earned hefty sums from trading the Philex Mining shares, resulting in record profits for the bank that year.

In a letter to ABS-CBN News, Ongpin also stressed that the transactions were above-board.

The current DBP board initiated an internal audit of these loan-and-stock deals early this year. Several officers of the bank have been identified as having been involved in the processing of the loan and stock transactions.

Pinpin was one of them

[MrQ5]

ok nga kwento nito sir from ted failon this morning:
Delta Ventures open its own company with less than a million peso, loan half a billion peso granted one day only...
bought the Philex mining shares (which the shares that owned by DBP) around P12 (if im not mistaken)
then, after more than a month or two the said shares of philex sell more than P20.

kumita and delta ventures ng walang hirap, nakautang ng kalahating bilyon sa isang araw nabayarad din agad hehehe

kung and DBP ang nagbenta nito at di agad ipinagbili sa Delta Ventures.... mas malaki sana kinita ng DBP

[vinj]

If that loan was indeed used to fund the purchase of shares of stock then that already is quite suspect in my own opinion.

Why would a bank extend a loan to purchase something that is considered quite volatile such as stock market shares? I don't think stakeholders and depositors of the bank would be at ease if management were using their money for such purposes. What was the collateral? The same shares of stock in question? how did they value it? It cannot be a scenario of having your cake and eating it too.

Besides, its quite known to many that the group of Ongpin have been fronts for the X-FG.

[uls]

i didnt read thru the details

i understand that the shares were owned by DBP

and Ongpin borrowed money from DBP to buy the shares from DBP

then sold the shares and made a big profit

question -- why the hell didnt DBP just sell the shares by itself and made the profit

why did DBP have to lend money to someone to buy the shares?

as if naman DBP can't sell the shares if it didnt provide financing to the buyer

as if naman there's a shortage of buyers of Philex shares

obviously the whole thing was set up to allow some people make a lot of money at the expense of DBP

[Monseratto]

Nung panahon ni erap, yung sale ng PLDT to MVP was highly suspcious. Now guess who bought the Philex shares from Ongpin's group...

[Monseratto]

I think nagaagawan ng control between SMC and MVP group that drove the price of Philex shares that time...wondering if he bought philex shares from the market or arranged sale.

[creepy]

I have to agree with what uls has been writing. Too many people at the old DBP management are involved in this, including some of the lawyers (the chief legal counsel). One problem we are facing now is that there are media people in the Ongpin group's pockets (look at all the fawning articles from DL at Biz Buzz regarding Ongpin and the SMC group). These media guys are helping Ongpin (and FG) get away with it by bashing all those who are trying to investigate.

Believe me -- this scam perpetrated by Rey David is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. They will do everything to discredit it so that the next exposes will look less credible.

[Ry_Tower]

I have to agree with what uls has been writing. Too many people at the old DBP management are involved in this, including some of the lawyers (the chief legal counsel). One problem we are facing now is that there are media people in the Ongpin group's pockets (look at all the fawning articles from DL at Biz Buzz regarding Ongpin and the SMC group). These media guys are helping Ongpin (and FG) get away with it by bashing all those who are trying to investigate.

Believe me -- this scam perpetrated by Rey David is only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. They will do everything to discredit it so that the next exposes will look less credible.

Oo, yung talagang halang kaluluwa mag-cocover-up niyan pati yung mga dating empleyado na nabiyayaan siyempre magpupursige na matapos na ingay na ito. Dami niyang executives na madaming alam even from previous admins. Sa LGU's nga lang grabe na bayaran eh.