Senator Antonio Trillanes IV or his late father does not have an account with DBS Bank Alexandra Road branch, the bank confirmed on September 19.
Trillanes flew to Singapore on September 18 to prove that President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusations against him over several offshore bank accounts are not true.
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In the morning of September 19, Trillanes visited the Singapore bank to get a certification that the “DBS account number 178000296012” is non-existent.
Duterte earlier said that the bank account has “193,000” in it, but did not specify its currency. He added that the DBS account was under the senator’s late father’s name, Antonio Trillanes.
However, the DBS Bank said that Trillanes or his late father had no account with them. It did not even give the lawmaker a certification because he was not a bank account holder in the first place.
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Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in reaction to Trillanes’ claim that his supposed DBS bank account does not exist, said that it should be validated.
“It is something to be verified… The President already checked into the background of that particular account,” Abella told reporters after his briefing in Malacañang.
Asked whether Trillanes tried to mislead the public with his Singapore visit, Abella said, “I cannot speculate on his intentions, okay? Just the facts. Stick to the facts. Apparently, it was there and it was closed. If that is the case, I will have to check on that.”
Checking HSBC
Trillanes also tried to check out his alleged bank account with what a document released online named as “Hongkong Shanghai Bank” (Raffles branch) in Singapore. However, there is no bank of such name, with the closest being “Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
Reporters tweeted that Trillanes visited Marina Square in Raffles Boulevard, but there was no HSBC bank, only an HSBC ATM.
Trillanes went to Marina Square in Raffles Blvd. There’s only an HSBC ATM; no branch
— Jam Sisante (@jamsisante) September 19, 2017
HSBC in Raffles, Singapore only an ATM in Marina Square | via @kaeceealvarez pic.twitter.com/y8XOdHH3eJ
— GMA News (@gmanews) September 19, 2017
Trillanes also checked out the Raffles Tower in Singapore, but its business listing board did not show any HSBC branch in the tower.
Business listing in Raffles Tower in Singapore shows there’s no Hongkong Shanghai Bank or HSBC in the area | @maeannelosbanos pic.twitter.com/ftB17VQe4q
— News5 AKSYON (@News5AKSYON) September 19, 2017
Duterte also accused Trillanes of maintaining bank accounts with Chinese co-depositors in New Zealand and Canada.
But Trillanes has denied the allegations and submitted waivers for the bank secrecy law over his alleged 12 bank accounts abroad to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
Sources: ( rappler.com , gmanetwork.com )
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