The World - News from July 11, 1989

A Filipino banker told the Philippine House of Representatives that ousted President Ferdinand E. Marcos at one time had $7.5 billion in Swiss bank accounts. At a committee hearing in Manila, Michael de Guzman testified that he learned of the amount while acting as an agent of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. Under a commission plan to track down the allegedly ill-gotten wealth of Marcos, De Guzman said, he got Marcos on March, 1986, to authorize him to withdraw deposits from Swiss banks for transfer to an Austrian bank. In the process, Swiss authorities identified 10 banks holding Marcos’ money and 11 Marcos foundations. The plan was later called off by the commission, and the money was never transferred, he added.