Stories on the Missing Art Movement

In order to get away with a life of crime, it helps to use a fake name.

The false identity which Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos chose for himself was the decidedly un-Filipino “William Saunders.” His wife, Imelda Marcos, selected “Jane Ryan”.

These were the aliases which the Marcoses used in the signature cards when they opened their first ever bank account with Credit Suisse in Zurich.

The year was 1968, four years before martial law irrevocably transformed the kleptocrat Marcos into an autocrat as well.

In 1968, Marcos’ presidential salary was around US $5,600, yet his Swiss bank account had a balance of US $ 950,000.

The Marcos presidency lasted for a little over 20 years, until in 1986, when Ferdinand and Imelda fled a country which had over US $26 Billion in debt, and whose national coffers were nearly empty.

Among the documents they left behind at Malacanang Palace were the Credit Suisse contracts signed in March 1968 with the names William Saunders and Jane Ryan.

Swiss Accounts and Foundations

The William Saunders-Jane Ryan accounts were closed by 1970, but the balances in those accounts were transferred to a newly created entity called the Xandy Foundation.

The instructions to create the Xandy Foundation were handwritten and signed by Ferdinand and Imelda.

The assets of the Xandy Foundation were later transferred to Fides Trust Co., and then to the Avertina Foundation.

By 1989, the accounts held in the name of Avertina Foundation totaled over US $ 240 Million.

Arelma and Foreign Assets

Another getaway vehicle the Marcoses would use was a Panamanian stock corporation which they organized in Liechtenstein, Arelma, S.A.

Documents left behind at Malacanang as the Marcoses fled detail how in 1972, Arelma was created with corresponding instructions for the opening of a direct brokerage account in the name of the new company at the New York office of Merrill Lynch.

Supreme Court Decisions

In 2003, the Philippine Supreme Court ordered the forfeiture of the Marcos Swiss deposits in favor of the Republic of the Philippines.

The forfeiture of the Arelma assets in favor of the Philippine government was affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2012.

Missing Artworks

In September of 2014, the Sandiganbayan handling the Arelma case issued an order seizing eight paintings found in the known residences of Imelda Marcos.

Most of these paintings remain missing to this day.

(Come join the Missing Art Movement, and help take our paintings back!)

Sources

Republic v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 96073, 23 January 1995
Republic v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. No. 152154, 15 July 2003
Marcos, Jr. v. Republic, G.R. No. 189434, 25 April 2012
Swezey v. Merrill Lynch, 2012
Michele Laird, Swissinfo (2015)
Jovito R. Salonga (2001)