Tan accuses senator of profiting from trading

Senator-judge Renato Cayetano reaped a windfall of anywhere between $1.2 million and $1.4 million (P 60 to P70 million), and not just the $ 160,000 (P 8 million) he earlier reported from buying and selling the controversial Best World Resources Corporation (BWRC) shares in 1999, President Joseph Estrada's friend businessman Dante Tan claimed yesterday.

In 1999, Cayetano wanted to buy four million shares at a discounted price at $0.04 (P 2.00) per share. He did not pay for the shares, but sold most of them when the price rocketed to $0.70 (P 35.00) per share.

Cayetano paid up for the shares long after a senate committee had started the BW investigation. "If Tan can prove this (charges), I will resign from the Senate," Cayetano said as he challenged the defence panel to put Tan on the stand "so I can confront him".

"There was nothing irregular in the way I bought the BWRC shares," claimed Cayetano. "It's not true that I took a long time to pay him (Tan). I paid him promptly, but with a post-dated cheque for $120,000 (P 6 million) for three million shares, not four million shares."

Cayetano reiterated: "I earned only $800,000 (P 40 million) plus, nowhere near the $1.2 million to $1.4 million (P 60 to 70 million pesos) that Tan insisted I got." "These are all lies; I bought only three million shares, not four million. If I was part of the BW insider trading, I would be richer by P300 million," said Cayetano.

Cayetano denied Tan's allegations, called the latter a liar and challenged him to make his allegations under oath at the Senate impeachment trial. Tan said he was compelled to reveal this because he had been at the receiving end of accusations and adverse publicity since 1999, when three investigations were started into the spectacular and unusual rise in the market of BWRC's share prices.

The Philippine Stock Exchange compliance and surveillance group (PSE- CSG), the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Senate banks committee under Sen. Raul Roco investigated Tan on alleged insider trading after the shares of his company rose 5,000 per cent from 1998 to October 1999.

Tan also alleged that former SEC chairman, Perfecto Yasay, had sought and got $50,000 from him in exchange for a favourable ruling in the BW investigation. According to Tan, former head of the surveillance group, Ruben Almadro, received $ 48,000 (P2.4 million) through a friend (Nestor Ty). Almadro had resigned from the PSE in disgust in 1999.