By SEN GUINGGUING

A former bank executive who is on the run after he was implicated in the multi-million Legacy scam was arrested in Tagbilaran City Monday evening after giving authorities the slip after a warrant for his arrest was handed out. The suspect identified as Alexis Petralba, 46, did not resist arrest when he was cornered by pursuers at the residence of his sister in Barangay Dampas this city. Petralba was described as the liaison officer and chief implementor of high-investment schemes hatched by Legacy owner Celso de los Angeles. He was a co-respondent in the case against de los Angeles for allegedly siphoning funds of the Rural Bank of Carmen in Cebu.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ordered Legacy’s 13 rural banks closed just before Christmas in 2008 for being insolvent and for engaging in unsafe and unsound practices. Investigators revealed that de los Angeles, among others, created 30 fictitious investment loans amounting to P136.7 million from Dec. 2007 to Feb. 2008 and made it appear that proceeds equivalent to more than P104 million were deposited to the savings account of Fusion Capital Corporation with the Rural Bank of Carmen. De los Angeles, former mayor of Sto. Domingo, Albay, was arrested in 2010. In an interview with Sunstar Daily, Senior Supt. Louie Oppus, PRO 7 deputy director for operations.

Oppus said they formed a team to locate Petralba last year. The police official received reports that the suspect was in Cebu and Dumaguete City but the search proved futile. Last December, Oppus said the team went to Tagbilaran after receiving a tip that Petralba was hiding there. After the team led by Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag confirmed the report, they served the warrant on Petralba. The team went to the house of his sister and asked her to surrender her sibling to avoid trouble. Petralba was transported to Ormoc City escorted by policemen aboard a fast craft 9 am Wednesday. He was committed to the Leyte Provincial Jail after he was presented to Judge Clinton Nuevo of the Regional Trial Court Branch 12. The scam had victimized many depositors and clients throughout the country. Among the victims were prominent personalities in Tagbilaran and Bohol.