Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. could be sanctioned by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) if management is found to have breached internal controls following the BSP’s probe into a massive internal fraud incident that involved anywhere from P900 million to P2.5 billion.
Chuchi Fonacier, BSP deputy governor for bank supervision and examination, said there might be penalties in this case, acknowledged as the biggest incident of its kind to hit the banking sector.
“There is that possibility,” said Fonacier, adding that the BSP was currently conducting its own parallel probe. “It’s an ongoing investigation,” she said.
Details of the incident emerged after Maria Victoria Lopez, a vice president at the corporate services unit of Metrobank’s Makati City head office, was arrested on July 17 as part of a sting operation launched by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
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Fonacier said the BSP investigation was so far focused on Lopez. It was not immediately clear if other individuals were involved.
The Inquirer reported on Friday that the bank’s losses occurred after Lopez allegedly engineered the release of loans to a fake account in the name of Universal Robina Corp., a food and beverage conglomerate owned by the Gokongwei family.
