After Vera Files released the story on the property of the Arroyo brothers, Mikey and Dato, congressman sons of Gloria and Mike Arroyo, I received a lot of letters giving additional information on the family’s alleged hidden wealth.
By the way, I am a trustee of Vera Files, a group of journalists that undertakes a deeper look at current issues. I am one of the four writers of the articles “Arroyo sons acquire U.S. homes, businesses after election to Congress” and “Following the Mikey trail: 2004, 2007 declarations show no campaign contributions”.
One of the letters I got came from an American who is in the finance business. He asked that his identity be withheld. I’ll call him “Jay”.
Jay said, “I’ve been frustrated with this story, because I know Mikey will be protected by his fellow crooks in the House, the crooked Ombudsman, and of course, his crooked mother. When I read about the Reconveyance of Deed on your blog, I realized that Mikey had broken multiple US laws and our justice system will investigate unless pressured not to by the State Department or the White House.”
Jay submitted to the FBI Tips Line and to the Federal National Mortgage Association commonly known as Fannie Mae “a report of likely: mortgage fraud, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, and kleptocracy by a foreign government official.”
He requested that his report be forwarded to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN, US Department of Treasury).
Here’s part of his letter:
“There is a breaking news story in the Philippines regarding the sons of Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. They have obviously broken several Filipino laws (unexplained wealth, perjury, filing false Statements of Assets and Liabilities, tax evasion,and plunder.) They won’t be prosecuted there because of the corrupt justice system. What caught my attention, is that at least one of them is violating multiple US laws with a clever money laundering scheme.
“Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo is the son of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Philippines. After his mother took power, he ran for a seat in the Filipino House of Representatives. His salary is less than $12,000 US Dollars per year. In 2006 he acquired a $1.32 million property at 1655 Beach Park Blvd. in Foster City CA. There was a $900,000 mortgage on the property through IndyMac Bank, which was taken over last year by the FDIC when it failed. To qualify for a “stated income” or “liar loan”, he would’ve fraudently claimed an income of at least $275,000 to be able to pay the mortgage, and probably provided fraudulent documents as proof of income. (His salary does not even cover the $14,000 in property taxes due each year) They also would have falsely claimed to be Permanent Residents or US Citizens on the mortgage.
“A mortgage broker told me that most likely they just lied and said they were US Citizens so as not to produce a Green Card. Remember, he is a foreign legislator and spends most of the year in the Philippines. He also would’ve claimed this as a primary residence when it was really a vacation home. Those IndyBank loan documents should be subpoenaed and reviewed to prove the fraud. He later transferred title to his wife under her maiden name of (Maria)Angela Arroyo Montenegro as way of hiding assets as a lawmaker in the Philippines.”
Jay submitted as background the VERA Files Aug. 31 story on the houses of Mikey and Dato Arroyo in San Francisco.
Jay further said in his letter, “As a foreign government official, Mr. Arroyo could not walk into my office and open a seven-figure brokerage account. I would have to comply with Enhanced-Due Diligence procedures and verify the source of his wealth to comply with section 312 of the Patriot Act. He devised a clever scheme to launder $1.39 million dollars.
“On April 15, 2008, the deed was reconveyed to Angela Arroyo Montenegro. This means they paid off $900,000 in mortgages in two years. Surely they know US banks file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs). As far as I know, there is no such reporting for repaying a mortgage early. How does someone who earns $12,000 a year pay off $900,000 in mortgages in two years? His family is notoriously corrupt and it is rumored he receives large cash payoffs from the illegal numbers game “jueteng” from his home province of Pampanga. (Jueteng payoffs led to the impeachment and ouster of former Philippines President Joseph “Erap” Estrada”. Mikey’s mother was Vice President and assumed the role of President after Estrada’s ouster.)
“The house is currently for sale. This means that upon the sale of the property, a Title Company check would be issued for $1.3 million in the name of Angela Montenegro. She could walk into almost any US bank and deposit into account and no questions would be asked because it is clearly the proceeds from a real estate sale and 99% of people would not know she is the daughter-in-law of the President of the Philippines. The money has successfully been laundered at that point.
“Per the earlier story referenced at www.verafiles.org , his brother Diosado “Dato” Ignacio Arroyo (also a congressman in the Philippines.) paid $570,000 cash for a luxury condominium at 177 California St., Unit 503 San Francisco. Gramercy Place . He claims his father-in-law paid for it, but that should be investigated as well.
“Violations of Section 312 of the US Patriot Act and the US National Strategy to Internationalize Efforts against Kleptocracy.”
Jay provided links to Inquirer and PCIJ websites in supporting his allegation that, “President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo are notorious kleptocrats. For background, google any of the following terms: Jose Pidal, NBN/ZTE Scam, IMPSA bribe, Hello Garci, Joc Joc Bolante, Northrail, NAIA Terminal 3/PIATCO, Jun Lozada, Diosado Macapagal Boulevard,.etc. Even the World Bank issued a report naming Mike Arroyo in shaking down a foreign businessman.”
Jay told the FBI and Fannie Mae, “I don’t have evidence of them breaking US laws, but it is clear that at least Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo should be investigated for mortgage fraud, wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and kleptocracy.”
This is good news indeed, Ellen.
Gloria Kulimbat should not be too sure that the US government will still protect her with US citizens now clamoring their government to investigate on this case of kleptocracy, etc.
I don’t think the FBI, etc. will ignore this.
‘Kakahiya ito pag lumabas sa mga dyaryo sa America. Pero iyong mga unggoy, mahihiya kaya iyong mga unggoy like Nograles of the Philippine Tongress, et al? I bet “hiya” is no longer in their dictionary! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
GABRIELA, USA, etc. should then continue picketing the properties of the kleptocrat Arroyos to make US citizens be aware of how these crooks violate even US laws. Tignan natin kundi magalit ang mga kano sa kanila. Yehey!
Wow! Right way forward! Excellent… now if only the FBI would cooperate, then Vera Files can nail the crooked brat to the mast!
but it is clear that at least Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo should be investigated for mortgage fraud, wire and mail fraud, money laundering, and kleptocracy.”
KLEPTOCRACY!!! Hah, ganid kasi!
Go, Ellen and Vera Files, go… and many thanks to Fil Expats in the US!!!
Matindi ang mga kaso ni Mikey sa ‘merika kapag nagkataon. Sana patulan yan ng FBI.
No let up on Mikey! Kung hindi masampolan sa Pinas ang pamilya Arroyo-Pidal, sa Amerika natin dalhin.
Thanks, Ellen and Vera Files colleagues. Also to Jay and Fil-Ams who rallied in front of Mikey’s house.
Kleptocracy-the legacy of Gloria Arroyo. America is no longer safe haven for corrupt government officials. FBI go for it !
Excellent letter! At least some people care to have these crooks investigated. The only thing is, if the US sees this as an opportunity to negotiate the Mindanao overstaying of the US soldiers in exchange for clearing this son of a bitch, lagot na naman ang Pinas. I am pretty sure some back channelling happened with the entry of the Fatso in the US. Maybe the presence of the US soldiers in Mindanao until the bitch leaves office took care of clearing the fatso.
I hope that with the people’s clamour, there will at least be an effort to look into this case. The next president will pursue the rest. At that point, hopefully the US will strike a different deal and it will not be to the benefit of the bitch, her family and her cronies.
If the U.S. court in Chicago was able to convict Lord Conrad Black of Crossharbour for Frauds for milking his own Companies through tips by a postal worker to the FBI and the US Attorneys from the Newspaper’s items he read about the Newspaper Icons seen taking carloads of Papers Evidence out of His Toronto Headquarters as Photographs by some very good and enterprising investigative reporters, then there no reason why can’t the Nail a Scumbag of the Mickey Variety..Black is now serving his 6 years sentence in the U.S. and can not qualified for Prisoner Exhange in His Native Canada where he will be qualified for Parole after two years since he had to renounce his Canadian Citizenship (he is also a British by Parentage) to qualify for Peerage, His Lordship, Sir Black of Crossharbour, convicted Fraudster.
Si Erap yong bahay lang sa QC ang kinukuwestiyon itong mga Arroyo pati mga anak nangulimbat. Si Erap walang ari-ariang ipinundar sa Amerika. Siya ay ibinoto ng mga tao at hindi siya nandaya at ito naman mandaraya na hindi naman ibinoto ng tao ay siya yong nanglilimas ng kaban ng Bayan. Ano ang ginagawa ng mga kapulisan bakit hindi nila hinuhuli ang mga magnanakaw na Arroyo. Hinahayaan na lang ba nila na ubusin ang yaman o ibaon sa utang ang ating Bansa? Yong mga Huwes o yong mga mahuhusay na mga mambabatas natin … ano hahayaan na lang ba? Ipaubaya ba natin sa Amerika ang pagtugois sa mga pamilyang magnanakaw na mga Arroyo?AMBABATAS
Good points, Tedanz.
Heto pa kamo, Vera Files expose complete with unquestionable evidences still got no backing from the civil society. Ni hoy ni hay ay wala pa akong nababasa o naririnig from any members of the elites. Mas pinagpipistahan nila si Noynoy at Soc Villegas kesa sa wrongdoings ng crooks family of Arroyo.
Tedanz and Chi,
How come Civil Society is quiet? Maybe they’re all excited about the upcoming announcement by Aquino that he will run.
Geez! Siguro iyan ang orgasmic experience nila….
Ellen,
Have you read this already?
___
Scandalous, cherry-picked
His lawyer, Ruy Rondain, said the increase in Arroyo’s wealth was made to appear “scandalous” by Vera Files, the group of investigative reporters which exposed Arroyo’s alleged SALN misdeclarations.
He said Vera Files “cherry-picked” the documents it had to put Arroyo in a bad light.
“They knew there was a supplement SALN in 2003, why did they not include it in their research? Is it because it would have ruined their foregone conclusion that my client had built up his wealth scandalously and not gradually?”
Rondain said it was clear in Arroyo’s SALN that he was a shareholder, not the majority owner, of Beach Way Park LLC which Arroyo claimed owned the Foster City, California, beach-front home worth $1.3 million.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090909-224333/Mikey-Arroyo-My-wife-made-me-richer
__
Wow, parang kidlat na ‘naisingit’ ang 2003 supplemental SALN ni Mikey.
Siempre, kahit anumang papeles/documents ay pwede nilang ma-produce kaagad, crooks yata sila!
Bakit hindi binulgar ni Mikey and SALN document na yan sa Hirit kung meron na noon pa? Sabi niya ay “self-explanatory” ang kanyang SALN.
Manloloko ang lintek na ito, anak nga ni Gloria at Mike Pidal!
First time kong narinig na puwedeng may supplemental SALN. Dati sabi o palusot, may amended SALN, ngayon naman supplement daw. Sabihin mo sa lelang mo.
Fabrication of document yan attorney Rondain. Walang maniniwala na existing yang doc na yan before. Nagpasiklab ka lang sa kliyente mo para sulit bayad sa yo.
They can doctor the SALN any which way they want but the impending fraud acitivities in the US will be tough ones to cover!
Chi,
I was actually waiting for that move. I’m pretty sure, there are more documents to come… last minute fabrications.
But whatever they say, the harm is done. Because there are corporation records in the US.
But expect the guys to muddle the issue. There will be PR damage control jobs galore.
Sabi ng Ombudsman, they will tighten the releases of SALN to protect the people. Naloko na lalong lalala ang corruption!
Ooops “Because there are no corporation records in the US.”
They can twist and turn Pinoys but it will be a different ballgame altogether in the US.
Hahaha! “orgasmic experience”…
Anna, the civil society also is having the same experience with the promotion of Soc Villegas, now an archbishop replacing the retired Oscar Cruz of Pangasinan.
I’d visit Mikey na lang sa US prison!
Btw, Chi, PSB,Tedanz, everyone,
Here’s the latest Wikipedia entry on Mikey Arroyo, the nation’s financial wizard. For the record, and before Malacanang hacks delete the “unflattering” entry and rehash the truth, here it is, via
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikey_Arroyo”
[edit] Personal life One of the most corrupt officials in the Philippines today, he grew up looking at his parents’ footsteps. He finished secondary education at the Diosdado Macapagal Montessori School, where he graduated with valedictorian honor. The school administrator later revealed that he used his mother’s political influence for him to be able to finish high school. He choose not to pursue college education for he believes that he can earn money even without graduating in college, as his mother’s influence can help him to be rich. Corruption runs in both the Arroyo and Macapagal blood. Plan “A”: The last two years of GMA at Malacanang has been allegedly preplanned for the Arroyos to amass wealth. Arroyos means the whole immediately family of the President, her husband who is the planner, her other two sons-congressmen. Apparently it was during family lunches that the Arroyos, in 2007 decided to start recouping all monies that come in their way – from gifts for favors given, from percentages/commissions for projects awarded and approved as in the ZTN-NBN deal and the south rail projects. when the ztn deal was blown out by Lozada, the arroyos resorted to Plan “B”: apportion the multi-billion pesos, ill-gotten from the chinese and deposited in off-shore accounts of their cohorts, to their equally-corrupt sons, Mikey and Datu who after all have support/defense mechanism – should the blood money be traced to them – that they are congressmen in their own right and have the “right and privileges” to receive same gifts and commission for favors granted. That was how Mikey was able to acquire his now very controversial San Francisco hideaway.
“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikey_Arroyo”
It’s easy to believe that edited Wiki entry about the corrupt Arroyo family.
This is a welcome development.
I hope Atty. Roque and company will follow this up with the FBI, etc. Kailangang ma-stop ang money laundering, etc. ng mga kriminal. Tignan lang natin kung maka-alembong pa si unano sa Tate. I hope the media in the US will swarm her with questions when she goes there in October. Ang hilig kasing mag-volunteer na magsasalita sia sa UN. Mapahiya sana although mukhang di tatalaban dahil kapalmuks nga.
Tuloy ang picket sa Foster City at saka doon sa California St.
Kaawawa ang lechon de letse,US OVEN ang bagsak nitong anak ni Queenie of AKYAT KABAN ng BAYAN,marahil $1.35M were only a drop in a bucket if only some financial institution would disclosed all the informatioms of illegally SWINE FAMILY TRANSACTION,been made from 2001 to present,especially BSP,w/c the prime factor of dollar transaction for the foriegn of exchanging currencies of the PINOYS.Maraming secret bussness investment ang SWINE Family sa abroad,kaya panay ang travel ng REYNA ng Buwaya at kasama ang mga alipores na HUNYANGO,BALIMBING at VACUUM CLEANER{sipsip]
Hope the FBI will look into this. Very interesting development indeed.
Wow, Ellen, you got an ace in Jay. He simply knows what the issue is all about. Trust me, this is the beginning of an end for the Arroyos. They can’t just ignore or deny facts presented by your thorough and credible researches. Vera Files should be commended for exposing another thorn for the Arroyos that make this administration truly corrupt in the eyes of the world. Kudos to you and the Vera Files!
I hope this issue does not get buried under the Noynoy candidacy excitement.
OK, balik ako dito sa issue ng idiot na Mikey, this is more important than Noynoy’s candidacy.
ito talagang si kiko napaka-useless at nag-aambisyon pang maging bise. they CAN do something. they can do what sen magsaysay did to joc-joc. they can investigate and make a finding and send the same to the u.s./embassy.
remember when joc-joc arrived in the u.s. his visa was canceled and ice took custody of him? this can happen to mikey, too, if the senate does something about this.
hopefully though, the u.s. wont just use this as leverage vs gma for something eg vfa/continued american presence in southeast asia.
Mikey must be grinning from ear to ear now, daming new issues na lumalabas. Superferry 9 mishap, Noynoy running for prez, Lacson expos’e vs. Erap. Natabunan na ang isyu nila ni Gloria.. regarding their ill gotten wealth. Damn!!!
I’m more interested in this unexplained, ill-gotten wealth by the son of Arroyo than in the ongoing brouhaha over Noynoy’s candidacy.
We have the time to observe, think and make up our mind over Noynoy’s presidential worth but we need to focus on this crucial issue today if we want to nail the Arroyos.
As Mike here said, Mikey must be grinning from ear to ear because of all the breaking news…
This ill-gotten wealth issue must not be buried.
Ilantad! Habulin! Bawiin at ipasuka lahat sa hudas na kabayong ‘yan at ‘yung kanyang kapatid na tikbalang ang lahat ng kanilang kinulimbat na ibinili ng mga ariarian sa Yu-Es.
Dapat sa magkapatid na ‘yan ay balatan at budburan ng asukal ang katawan saka itali sa langgaman!
Isunod na rin ang kanilang mga magulang na halimbawa ng walang patumangga at pagkasawang kasibaan.
Huwag kalilimutang halos isang dekada na tayong ninanakawan ng pamilyang walang kabusugan!
Salam aleikoum, Abdollah Mouawad!
Agree, sige, feed them to the langgams!
Let’s not forget today’s real issue. This news is a welcome development.
___
Mikey Arroyo faces graft, perjury raps over undeclared assets
http://www.abs-cbnNEWS.com | 09/10/2009 5:39 PM
MANILA – A militant group on Thursday filed graft and perjury raps against presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel ‘Mikey’ Arroyo for his failure to declare several of his assets including a multimillion-peso home in the United States.
Thank you very much ellen for your Vera article on Mikey’s wealth. It has snowballed, and we are praying it can help pin down this Mikey.
“Mikey Arroyo faces graft, perjury raps over undeclared assets”:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/10/09/mikey-arroyo-faces-graft-perjury-raps-over-undeclared-assets
Re: gusa77 comment “…BSP,w/c the prime factor of dollar transaction for the foriegn of exchanging currencies of the PINOY…”, Amando M. Tetangco, the Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is also a mekene (from Pampanga)!
Thanks.
From former Trade Secretary Vicente Paterno:
A hearty thank you to “Jay”. I hope US authorities will look into the real estate transaction and probable funding source. Whether now or after June 30 2010. At least to make the Congressman persona non grata on US soil
Ting Paterno
“J” should be awarded a righteous medal! Bravo, J!!!
Supplemental SALN. Magkano naman kaya ang supplemental attorney’s fees?
Siguruhing pulido ang pag-antedate ng receipt ng supplemental SALN.
Dapat ay huwag tulugan ang isyung ito!
Isang butil ng buhanging natibag mula moog ng mga arroyo na magsisilbing susi upang mabuksan ang kubakob ng kanilang mga tagong yaman at kawlanghiyaan!
Mabuhay ang Fil-Am group na buong giting na binubusisi ang mga nakaw na ariarian ng mga kabayo!
And also to you, “J”!
Thank you very much!
SnV, good question. Mikey mentioned an Atty. de Guzman in his interview in Unang Hirit.
But it is now Ruy Rondain, his father’s lawyer in the libel cases against us, 47 journalists.