The estranged wife of Legacy Group owner Celso de los Angeles on Friday she is willing to testify in the Senate investigation on the preneed industry and reveal the truth about the "criminal genius" behind the Legacy Group scam.

In a press statement, Ma. Concepcion "Connie" Panlilio-de los Angeles berated her ex-husband for using their firstborn son, Martin Nicolo, in crafting another scam not only in rural banking but also in preneed plans.

She said she and her children never had any hand in the financial affairs of de los Angeles during and after their four-year marriage as he has always kept his businesses close to his chest.

"As a mother, I only want to protect Nico who at a very young age has been dragged into this issue by his father and whose future has been compromised. We are willing to assist and cooperate in the ongoing investigations against my estranged husband, but I hope the public will respect our privacy," she said.

For the love of her son, the estranged wife of Sto. Domingo, Albay Mayor Celso delos Angeles has come out to tell the truth about the alleged ?criminal genius? behind the Legacy Group scam.
 
Ma. Concepcion "Connie" Panlilio-de los Angeles, who left the Legacy brains due to his alleged ?persistent womanizing,? lashed out at her ex-husband, saying the latter has no qualms using their first-born son, Martin Nicolo, in crafting another scam not only in rural banking but also in pre-need plans.
 
Panlilio-de los Angeles said she left the Legacy owner due to his alleged "persistent womanizing." The couple filed for divorce in the United States in 1984.
   
She explained that the family's Alabang property, which was sold for P58 milllion, was part of the settlement of their separation with a portion of the money used to pay off conjugal debts.

She said she rarely spoke with her estranged husband and whatever interaction they had where limited to the welfare and support for her two children.
 
Delos Angeles was placed on the watchlist of the  Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for  the collapse of three rural banks -- Thrift Savings and Loan Association, Federated Thrift Bank, and Rural Bank of Calumpit -- in 1984. Delos Angeles was slapped with more than two dozen fraud cases in Makati, Bulacan, Albay and Aklan and was banished from the banking industry until seven years ago when the BSP lifted the ban due to his alleged connections.
 
Panlilio-de los Angeles added that she was unwittingly dragged into the Legacy issue when she agreed to lend her name and those of her children to be among the incorporators of the Legacy Group. "He used this as a condition to guarantee continued financial support he was granting to our children," she said. 
 
She added, however, that she and her son were forced to execute Deeds of Assignments in his favor. "It was still a one-man-show.  His businesses were solely put up for his benefit," she said.
 
Before signing the incorporation papers, Connie said de los Angeles promised her that Legacy's operations would be legal and there would be no repeat of the banking fiasco in the 1980s. "How could I harm you when my own mother and brother are among the incorporators," Connie quoted de los Angeles as saying.
 
She said that her son has no expertise in banking being a psychology graduate and that he was made to sign the papers when he was just barely out of his teens. "Fresh from college, Nico was employed by Celso, although his employment was a 'paper employment'. He did not participate in the running or administration of the businesses," Panlilio-de los Angeles said.