Feb. 24--Legacy owner Celso de los Angeles' allegations backfired as the man he accused of extorting money from him rebuked his claims on Monday in a letter sent to the House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries.

In the letter, Ramon Dino, accused by de los Angeles of extortion, said the Legacy owner is a member of a syndicate that has links to many government agencies.

"This group is no ordinary syndicate," Dino added. They [members] are extremely intelligent, morally deprived and ruthless, and well-connected individuals. We should never underestimate their clout and connections."

A former member of the Legacy Group Citizens' Crime Watch, he was accused by de los Angeles during previous Senate hearings of extorting money from him twice.

De los Angeles is the subject of investigations initiated by Congress for allegedly illegal banking practices which led to the closure of 13 rural banks under the Legacy group of companies.

In a 40-page sworn statement dated February 12, 2009 that was attached to his letter, Dino swears to "know about Celso de los Angeles Jr., and his corporate conglomerate and syndicated swindlers."

He said he is "morally convinced" that the "criminal syndicate" is composed of de los Angeles, his inner core of Legacy group officers and high-ranking government officials from the Monetary Board, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.

Dino also claimed that the de los Angeles' "syndicate" also includes members of Congress, the judiciary, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the military and the police.

BSP readies charges

Central bank officials, meanwhile, told the committee that they may already file charges against the Legacy proprietor by the end of the week upon completing a report compiled by the Bangko Sentral's field investigators. The report supposedly links de los Angeles to alleged diversion of funds using fake loans.

The previous charges filed by the central bank against Legacy group officials failed to pin down de los Angeles, who was not named as an official in any of the four firms indicated in the complaints.

Central bank Assistant Governor Juan de Zuniga said the cases would be filed as soon as Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. finishes reviewing the report.

De Zuniga disclosed that they are considering filing charges against Judge Nina Antonio Valenzuela of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 28 and Court of Appeals Associate Justices Apolinario Bruselas Jr.