La Prensa reports on the recent seizure of Banco Universal and the freezing of all accounts. That is what happened when the bank ignored an order to freeze Felipe Virzi’s accounts.
At 10:45 a.m. on May 28, Banco Universal received an order from the third anti-corruption prosecutor ordering the freezing of some 40 accounts linked to shareholder Felipe “Pipo” Virzi, who was being investigated for money laundering and other crimes.
The move was made citing “fragile financial weakness,” “weak risk management” and “inadequate internal controls.”
In December 2014, the superintendency restricted the bank from performing certain duties due to its concentration of loans to companies linked to the Virzi family. It detected violations of that provision when it investigated the transactions that were in violation of the prosecutor’s order.
The superintendency has appointed Jaime Gamboa to analyze and determine in detail the financial reality of the Bank.
Superintendency Secretary Gustavo Villa said that it appears to have the liquidity to meet the obligations to depositors, as it has $56 million in liquid assets.
And the saga continues…………..