PAREDES
MORE victims of unauthorized ATM withdrawals have come out, one of them Retired Judge Meinrado Paredes, who lost P100,000 from his Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) account.
He said he discovered the unauthorized withdrawals from his account when he personally tried to withdraw money last March 12 at around 6 p.m. but was declined because he had apparently maxed the withdrawal limit for the day, which is set at P50,000.
Paredes said he immediately went to the Fuente Police Station to enter the incident in the police blotter.
Accompanied by some of his friends, Paredes said that after reporting the incident, they waited by an ATM until 12:01 dawn of the next day so that he could immediately withdraw the maximum amount allowed and preclude further unauthorized withdrawals from his account.
Paredes said he usually made his ATM withdrawals at the bank’s Capitol Branch along Escario Street and at other times at the branch in Banilad. His last withdrawal was made last March 7 before his discovery of the loss.
He said he has not yet secured the transaction record from LBP but surmised that the other P50,000 taken from his account was probably made on March 11, a day before he discovered that someone had made unauthorized withdrawals.
The day following the incident, Paredes said he reported it to the bank and had his ATM account blocked.
In addition, he also asked the bank to reimburse the stolen amount as he submitted his affidavit as well as the police report.
“I was assured that in two to three months, mauli pero di pud ta masiguro kay Manila man kuno ang mu-approve. So it will take time because they have to check the machines,” Paredes said.
Paredes commended how the bank accommodated him when he reported the incident.
He said if the bank will refuse to reimburse, he plans to coordinate with other victims for possible legal action.
In light of the incident, Paredes said he already transferred the bulk of his savings to another account but pointed out that he still maintained the ATM open with minimal amount.
Paredes said that on the day he reported the incident to Land Bank, he encountered Prosecutor Jennifer Leyson and Judge Alexander Acosta who also reportedly suffered the same fate as Paredes.
Paredes said that Acosta lost P20,000 while Leyson lost P100,000.