THE central bank has alerted a Senate panel that a certification presented by the third-party auditor that is now subject of an internal review by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has been disowned by the issuing bank, prompting Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to label it as outright “spurious,” possibly the subject of the next hearing.
An affiliate of Soleil Chartered Bank disowned any bank certification issued in favor of third party auditor Global ComRCI contracted by Pagcor’s former management for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs). In a statement last February 1, Pagcor said it initiated a review last September of all contracts made earlier, and would not hesitate to sanction involved parties if wrongdoing is confirmed.
Pagcor’s statement said the gaming regulator thanked Gatchalian, chairman of the Ways and Means panel probing POGO-related issues, for flagging the questionable documents submitted by its third-party auditor, Global ComRCI consortium.The latter forged a P6-billion contract with the previous Pagcor management and, based on discussions in the last hearing, the focus will now shift to the third-party auditor.
On Friday, Gatchalian revealed that Bangko Central Governor Felipe Medalla, in a letter to him, reported receiving a statement by Soleil Capitale’s Chief Executive Officer Raj C. Astavakra, that the company’s affiliate Soleil Chartered Bank is based abroad and does not operate within the Philippines. Thus, it would not issue any such certification. The BSP was told that Soleil Capitale has no record of such document or any correspondence with regard to the certification and that Astavakra is not aware of the bank certification.
Moreover, Medalla said 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, according to Gatchalian.
Gatchalian pointed out that “only those authorized by the BSP to operate as a bank may issue a letter of credit or certification as per Medalla.”
He recalled that Global ComRCI consortium entered into a 10-year, P6 billion contract with Pagcor to conduct an independent audit of POGO’s gross gaming revenues. During the last Senate hearing, Pagcor presented a bank guarantee purportedly issued by Soleil to Global ComRCI in the amount of $25 million, noting that under Pagcor’s Terms of Reference (TOR), an entity needs to meet the P1-billion requirement to be qualified as a third-party auditor.
In its statement last February 1, however, Pagcor said it had learned through a news report that Soleil Chartered Bank issued a statement denying the issuance of a bank certification to Global ComRCI.
“In relation to this report, Pagcor would like to reiterate that since the assumption of its new management in August 2022, all contracts—including that of Global ComRCI—were put under review last September 2022,” the statement read.
Pagcor added that its “new management is revalidating the veracity of the documents submitted by its third-party auditor, Global ComRCI. Should Pagcor be able to prove that the documents submitted were spurious, it will immediately take legal action and cancel the contract of its third-party auditor, if found warranted.”
Pagcor said it “would like to thank Senator Sherwin Gatchalian for shedding light on this issue during the Senate investigation on January 23, 2023.
The state-run gaming firm reassured the public that it is conscientiously looking into the matter and will take the necessary actions to safeguard public interest. Further, Pagcor said it upholds strict adherence of its offshore licensed operators and accredited service providers to whatever laws, which may be applicable to them.
Meanwhile, Gatchalian recalled that also mentioned in the BSP bletter are “other discrepancies” in the bank certification such as the bank logo used in the document.
At the same time, the senator stressed that “it can be deduced clearly from the BSP letter that Global ComRCI submitted a spurious bank certificate to Pagcor” adding that “this brings to question not just the legitimacy of the contract but also the credibility of Global ComRCI to conduct a 3rd-party audit of POGO gaming revenues.”