Philippine President Joseph Estrada on Wednesday denied that he used a secret bank account to fund a mansion for one of his mistresses.
Prosecutors in the Senate, where the president is on trial for corruption, alleged that a 142 million peso (3.84 million dollar) cheque, used to purchase the mansion, had a signature identical to Estrada's.
It was signed by a Jose Valhalla, whose signature was an exact replica of the president's, as seen on Philippine bank notes, the lawyers told the tribunal.
Asked to respond to the allegations that the signatures were exactly the same, Estrada told reporters: "That's what they claim. I have nothing to do with that."
He declined to elaborate, saying the case was best left to the Senate tribunal, now in its fifth day.
The tribunal on Tuesday ordered Equitable PCI Bank to turn over records of the alleged secret account after prosecutors claimed this was crucial evidence to prove Estrada's guilt.
Estrada is accused of bribery, corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the constitution. The chares are based largely on the accusation of a provincial governor that he handled millions of dollars in bribes from illegal gambling bosses and took kickbacks on tobacco excise taxes to finance a lavish lifestyle.
Estrada had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges, but two witnesses at the trial have claimed he received illegal gambling payoffs at his office and used the money to build a casino -- MANILA (AFP)
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