Financial analyst flags Sara Duterte’s ‘unusual’ banking behavior

MANILA (UPDATED) — A financial analyst shared his analysis of Vice President Sara Duterte’s bank transactions, which he considered “unusual” banking behavior.

During Friday’s impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte, the prosecution presented Alexander Cabrera, a forensic financial analyst.

Among the transactions examined by Cabrera were the issuance of several checks from Duterte’s bank accounts, including a total of P11.53 million issued to Duterte’s dentist, Lourdes Lebosada, who is also a business partner of Atty. Mans Carpio in Cale88.

Cabrera likewise mentioned a withdrawal and encashment of several checks totaling P41 million, which were done within the span of an hour.

“Ang kakaiba po dito, nangyari po lahat ng withdrawal, encashment at withdrawal po na P41 million, lahat po sa iisang araw at halos nasa iisang oras lang po,” he said.

“Dahil masyado pong malalaki yung withdrawal in cash, P41 million po medyo hindi po normal na withdrawal po ‘yun,” Cabrera explained, adding that for big amounts, people would usually have a manager’s check issued and then deposited to their personal account.

Aside from the withdrawal of big amounts of money, Cabrera also noted the practice of “check kiting”, which he compared to the traditional folk dance “tinikling”.

According to Cabrera, Vice President Duterte purchased manager’s checks from her joint account with former president Rodrigo Duterte, worth P41 million and P55 million using their time deposit accounts.

What he found unusual in this practice is that the total amount would not appear in the ending balance of the said accounts, because the manager’s checks were not deposited.

“Ang nangyayari po, hindi po nag-a-appear sa ending balances yung amounts. Ang ginagawa po nila nag-iissue po sila ng manager’s checks, payable in six months. Itong manager’s checks po na ito, nakapangalan po sa depositor, sa may-ari ng account. Hindi po nila ito dine-deposit, hinihintay po nila ito na magstale, para babalik po yung cash sa loob po ng account nila. So maari pong during the year nandoon po yung amount, pero at the end of the year wala po doon, nasa bangko po ‘yung amount,” Cabrera said.

He also explained this is unusual because the checks do not earn interest.

“Kaya po ito unusual banking behavior, bukod po sa tinikling, wala po kasing interest ang manager’s check. So yung pagka-nag-issue ka po ng manager’s check, ‘yung bangko po ang nagkakaroon ng payable sa’yo pero wala pong interes. So bakit hindi man lang po nilagay sa time deposit, tulad po noong nauna nilang ginawa noong 2010,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera noted this was done by Duterte from 2011 to 2014, after which she used the amount to buy several insurance policies for herself and her children.

“By 2014, napunta na po sa investments in insurance policies, 4 na 20 million payments for insurance policies,” he said.

Aside from the manager’s checks, Cabrera also presented a table showing Duterte’s credit card usage, which he likewise considered unusual.

Among the purchases noted were a payment made to Ginza Inakaya in Tokyo worth P205,007.29; a purchase worth P111,109.24 from Mega Don Quijote Uynaya; two separate transactions in Nike SM Davao Annex worth P93,750 and P205,392; two separate transactions in Mega Don Quijote Shibuya worth P62,900.65 and P65,877.64; and a purchase worth P256,882.50 from Nike Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Cabrera also discussed the Vice President’s involvement in businesses, particularly with Metro City Chow (Foods Corporation and GenCorp Industries, based on her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth.

He also said that Duterte’s husband Mans Carpio is also engaged with Calle88, Mati Ice and several small companies. “Doon po sa kanilang SALN, nakadeclare yung businesses pero wala pong amount. So pinuntahan namin yung financial statement para mailift yung equity nila para sa mga business po na nakadeclare sa SALN,” he said.

Cabrera said the Dutertes declared the companies but did not indicate the percentage of ownership.

“Nakalagay lang po doon siya po ay stockholder, director at incorporator. ‘Yung Metro City Chow, may nakadeclare na equity po si VP Sara sa general information sheet. Nasa 20 percent  nakalagay doon, inapply po namin ‘yun sa naka declare na equity.

Cabrera said the Vice President also indicated being a stockholder of Gencorp. 

“However, in the general information sheet filed by Gencorp with the SEC, there is no ownership of VP Sara,” he said.

“Una po sinabi po niyang stockholder siya sa Gencorp sa sworn SALN, kung stockholder po siya siya sa Gen corp based po sa kanyang SALN ang ibig sabihin po noon ay 1, 2 o mga ilan sa stockholder sa Gencorp ay parang representative lamang niya o hinahawakan ang shares para sa kanya.”

Cabrera said the GenCorp stocks are crucial since it involves ownership of five Jollibee branches.

“Nagcheck kami ng available information online, ang isang Jollibee franchise po ay between P35 million to P50 million,” he said.

Aside from the franchise fee, a restaurant branch also needs working capital.

“Kailangan nyo rin po ng working capital, pambayad sa crew, pa,mbayad sa manager, sa rent, kailangan po ng initial inventory, so yung P35M, conservative amount lang yun… ‘yun po dapat ang minimum capital ng Gencorp, subalit ang (registered) capital po lamang ng Gencorp ay P1,250,000 po,” he said.

Cabrera claimed based on their financial forensics, the Vice President did not report a “substantial amount of assets” to her SALN  from 2022 to 2025.

He added that based on “limited documents” they have examined, Duterte has P817.87 million worth of “unexplained wealth.”

Senator-Judge Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, reminded the prosecution that what Cabrera shared was merely his opinion based on his expertise.

He said it is still up to the senator-judges to decide on the veracity of Cabrera’s report.

“Lahat ng ating nakita ay malinaw sa isip namin na opinion… in fact, mamaya sa cross pag nabutasan ang kanyang testimony magsa suffer ang kanyang credibility,” he said.

“Pagka dumating naman ang pagkakataon na magpresent (ang defense) ng sariling expert na meron ding analysis, titimbangin din namin kung ano ang kapanipaniwala.”

This was echoed by the Presiding Officer Senator Francis Escudero.

“The Chair confirms the statement of the honorable Lacson that it is not conclusive, not binding and it is up to the senator-judges to give the accorded weight they want to give to give to the expert’s opinion,” he said.

The defense is expected to cross-examine Cabrera next week.