Philippines' former Foreign Secretary arrested

The Philippines police arrested former Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay on Thursday for "several violations" of banking laws that the country's central bank filed against him in 2011.

A Manila court issued a warrant for his arrest. Yasay, who was Foreign Secretary from 2016 to 2017, is accused of violating the General Banking Law and the New Central Bank Act, for his involvement in an anomalous loan from Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgages Bank.

It was disclosed that Yasay, who was then working for a local bank called Banco Filipino, allegedly conspired with five other bank "associates" sometime between 2001 and 2009 in securing a 350 million pesos ($6.69 million) loan for Tierrasud Incorporated, which operates under Tierrasud Land Corporation.

According to the records, all the accused allegedly failed to report the loan to the supervision of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) -- Philippines' central bank. 

They also allegedly failed to correct the violation despite instructions to do so. IANS