By Vir B. Lumicao
 |
| Defendant told the court Marcos himself gave the gold certificates to him |
David Morano Jr pleaded not guilty to a charge of “using a
false instrument” before District Court Judge David Dufton on Monday, Sept 16.
Prosecutor Frederic Whitehouse said Morano was arrested on
Oct 29 last year while trying to transact business at HSBC headquarters in
Central using the spurious gold certificates.
The defendant claimed the certificates and other documents
seized from him came from a foundation linked to the late Philippine president
Ferdinand Marcos, set up for humanitarian projects.
The documents were a receipt for US$500 billion gold certificates
in the name of Morano issued by “Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corp.” on Jun 12,
1983, four HSBC cards bearing his name and 12 documents certifying he owns the gold
certificates.
The first prosecution witness, a female manager at HSBC
whose staff was first approached by Morano to present the certificates, said
the defendant claimed he wanted to verify the authenticity of the documents. He
allegedly said the certificates were given to him by Marcos so he could set up
a humanitarian foundation.
The witness, Ms So, said among the documents Morano presented
were certifications from Marcos, the United States
On cross-examination by defense counsel Mr Hemmings, So said
she concluded that the gold certificates, on A4-size gold-coated document, were
fake when she noticed that the bank’s name was printed as “Hong Kong Shanghai
Bank Corp”.
She said the bank’s official name is Hong
Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.
The trial continues.
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