Medalla

Bank affiliate ‘disowns’ certification of POGO auditor

February 10, 2023 Camille P. Balagtas 325 views

AN affiliate of Soleil Chartered bank has disowned any bank certification issued in favor of a third-party auditor contracted by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla’s letter to Senator Win Gatchalian.

In the letter, Medalla cited a statement made by Soleil Capitale’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Raj C. Astavakra, that the company’s affiliate Soleil Chartered Bank is based abroad and “does not operate” within the Philippines.

Medalla also said that Soleil Capitale has “no record of such document” or any correspondence concerning the “certification” and that Astavakra is “not aware” of the bank certification.

In the same letter, Medalla emphasized that Soleil Chartered does not have a pending application for a banking license with the BSP and that it did not receive nor process any banking application from the said entity based on BSP’s records reckoning from 2014, said Gatchalian.

The BSP governor added that only those authorized by the BSP to operate as a bank may issue a letter of credit or certification.

The auditor entered into a ten-year P6 billion contract with Pagcor to conduct an independent audit of POGO’s gross gaming revenues.

In its attempt to show the legitimacy of its operations, Pagcor, during the last Senate hearing, presented a bank guarantee purportedly issued by Soleil to the auditing firm in the amount of US$25 million.

Under Pagcor’s Terms of Reference (TOR), an entity needs to meet the P1 billion requirement to be qualified as a third-party auditor.

Also mentioned in the BSP letter are other discrepancies in the bank certification, such as the bank logo used in the document.

“It can be deduced clearly from the BSP letter that… [auditing firm] submitted a spurious bank certificate to Pagcor. This brings to question not just the legitimacy of the contract but also [their credibility] to conduct a 3rd-party audit of POGO gaming revenues,” Gatchalian stressed.