Olivia Yanson, matriarch of the Yanson clan that runs Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI), parent company of the Ceres bus liner, accused her daughter Celina Yanson-Lopez, who serves as the company’s chief financial officer, of “diverting” the matter regarding the missing P380 million in company funds.
In an email forwarded by the elder Yanson’s camp, she said the issue stems from an audit report conducted by independent firm SGV & Co. that showed the CFO had at least P380 million in unaccounted advances/liabilities with the company.
“When this anomaly happened, [Yanson-Lopez] did not even call for a meeting and let her staff explain in writing why they kept on transferring funds several times for the same transaction,” Yanson noted. “[She] even instructed the internal auditors to alter the audit report.”
She also accused Yanson-Lopez of instructing their accounting department to not cooperate with the independent auditing firm.
Yanson then called into question the CFO blaming the missing funds on the family matriarch herself, claiming it was a matter of protecting a “pet” employee.
“If she is referring to the case in our Manila Branch, which is being portrayed to be the ‘pet of [Olivia Yanson],’ the amount being referred to was only P28 million,” she noted. “How about the rest of the P352 million?”
Last week, Yanson-Lopez called on her mother to “tell the unvarnished truth” about the funds and claimed “everyone knows” who was responsible for the alleged unliquidated funds.
She pointed out, the matter originated last year, which she believes “precipitated the break between the ‘Yanson majority’ and her mother.”
“My mother got mad at me, together with the three of us—Ricky, Roy, and Emily—because  we wanted the guy responsible for these illicit withdrawals from the Manila Purchasing Office to be criminally charged and sent to jail,” she explained. “When we discovered that this person was the one who orchestrated this big mess in cahoots with another, a lady cashier, the board wanted their heads.”
“My mother intervened and, out of pity, even wanted to pay for those funds which this guy allegedly took,” the CFO added.
She noted, the suspect had reportedly served the company for over two decades and her mother “covered for his misdeeds.”/DGB, WDJ