PEP: Jessica Rodriguez breaks silence on Beverly Hills 6750 hubbub (Part 1)

There was a brand new BMW X5, which costs 5.6 million pesos. A man clad in a business suit gave the expensive car to his wife as a gift. Cameras flashed and the public witnessed the stirring moment. The lady uttered in tears, “I just want to say, no one has ever loved me the way he loves me." That scene changed the life of David Joseph Buenvacz and Jessica Rodriguez drastically. Six months later, the former high-profile couple disappeared from the showbiz scene. They left their posh house in Ayala Alabang, and now have “no permanent address" in the U.S. They left Beverly Hills 6750, the company they launched almost two years ago, and are now exploring other business ventures outside the country. They left show business abruptly, leaving behind a string of controversies. PEP (Philippine Entertainment) had chronicled the entire Beverly Hills 6750 hubbub—the alleged confrontation between David and his Chinese partners in Greenhills, the couple's resignation from the company, the filing of charges, including the discovery of Beverly Hills Surgical Institute's (the clinic's supposed partner in the U.S.) nonexistence. We managed to get hold of David via email, but the least thread in the online exchange was dated January 31, 2008—the day we asked his feedback on the statements of his former colleagues at Beverly Hills 6750. On March 11, PEP's editor-in-chief got a call from an unfamiliar number. When she responded, a lady on the other line identified herself as "Jessica Rodriguez." Three days later, we spent the entire morning chatting with Jessica, who admitted she was the one who asked David to stop replying to our queries. "Ako ang nagsabi sa kanyang ano, eh...Alam mo paranoid ako, Karen [PEP managing editor], sorry talaga, ha. Paranoid ako kasi feeling ko lawyer nila..." And for the first time, she reveals her pains and gains after the Beverly Hills 6750 hubbub erupted in December 2007. THE SUDDEN EXIT. On December 13, 2007, PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) broke the story about the sudden exit of David and Jessica from Beverly Hills 6750, a cosmetic surgery clinic where they served as president and marketing director, respectively. Two issues floated on the heels of their departure: (1) David’s alleged misuse of company funds (2) David was badly beaten up by his erstwhile partners. In an exclusive interview, David’s former colleagues—Dr. Ed Santos, Ms. Suzette Hahn-Lopez, and Dr. Abe Marinduque—at the Beverly Hills 6750 affirmed that the former president of their company had been charged with estafa, which amounts to 1.8 million pesos. With regard to the “beating incident," a counter-affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation by a certain Juanito R. Ho—along with the other investors of the clinic, namely Cedric Lee, Louie Kaw, Dominic Sytin, and Tyrone Ong—denied the allegations of David. It stated, “While tempers flared and the parties exchanged heated words at some parts of the meeting, we did not, in any way, physically harm David Bunevacz. Neither were any of us armed, in any way." The affidavit further stated, “Indeed, the meeting ended up peacefully with Bunevacz leaving the house without any incident and driving off in his Porsche Cayenne. Bunevacz even flew to Hong Kong that night." But Jessica’s affidavit, which was submitted to the Consulate General of the Republic of the Philippines in Los Angeles, California, narrated a different story. The alleged mauling happened on the “afternoon of 27 November 2007." At around 4:00 p.m., Jessica received a call from a “distressed" David. Jessica mentioned in her affidavit that her “husband’s voice was shaking," and that he had asked her to “leave the BHI [Beverly Hills Institute] office immediately." She met her husband about an hour and a half after the phone call. In the same document, Jessica described her husband’s state as “badly beaten." She said, “His face was battered and his left ear and lips were bruised and swollen. There were blood stains on his shirt. David also had a distinct depression on his forehead, which I later learned was caused by a gun being pointed at him." A few days later, the entire Bunevacz family flew to the U.S. THE "THREATS." Jessica wrote during the online chat with PEP last March 15: “Right after the incident, we felt the need to protect our family. After yung incident na nangyari, from thereon, talagang ano…hindi na kami naghiwa-hiwalay." Until December 5, 2007, the “threats" continued. Jessica’s affidavit claimed that she and her husband had been receiving “threatening text messages," which were sent by the supposed mobile numbers of Cedric Lee and Tyrone Ong. One of the text messages, reportedly received by the couple from Cedric, demanded that David turn over the BMW X5, including the pertinent documents. It was sent at 9:21 p.m. last November 29, two days after the alleged beating incident, and it read (published as is): “Dave the guys are demanding you to give the x5 [BMW X5] together with all the docs of the car. Including the Porsche docs. If you don’t give it by tom. They will be forced to go to your house and take everything including your furniture and if the cars and docs doesn’t arrive tom we will ransak your house by Friday. We will liquidate your cars and return it to Beverly, dat’s an order…You know who we are. We can be your bestfriend but we can be your worst enemy." Tyrone, according to Jessica’s affidavit, sent a total of four messages, two of which purportedly issued a warning to the Bunevacz couple. The message, supposedly sent by Tyrone on November 28, at 11:39 a.m., read (published as is): “Heard you’ve been calling people specially you jess [Jessica], YOU WANT ME TO MOVE IN NOW??! You f*ck*ng p*t*! The chance were giving is not for both of you but for the kids, you leave us no choice." The last one, Jessica said, was sent on December 5, 2007 (published as is): “Hey You f*ck"rs, tell your f*ck*ng husband who yells like a girl to face his problem like a f"ck*ng man you f"ck*ng b*tch stop hiding from you coz he will only see the tru you in time of distress. You ready to face or God? Come out and I will help you reach him. I just don’t know if we have the same God." The “beating incident" and “threats" made Jessica paranoid. She told PEP, “Up to now, palipat-lipat kami. Kaya nga hindi nakakapasok itong mga bata. I only stay in this place kapag may home study sila. Mahirap. Takot ako nun." THE ESTAFA CASE. Despite the absence of the Bunevacz couple in the showbiz scene, the clinic’s internal disputes eventually surfaced. The first issue was about David’s “anomalous disbursements of company checks." BH 6750 claimed that he issued company checks for personal expenses, specifically, “the BMW X5, unofficial travels, and payments to Montessori and Junior baseball." Jessica said she and David were “very surprised" about “these accusations on company checks," the latest of which was issued in “2006." She also wrote in her March 15 email (published as is), “What’s even more suprising is that they first came up with accusations that the amounts reached P22M daw. Then it was reduced to P18M, I think. Then David received a demand letter from their lawyers that the claim is only P1.8M na lang. ‘Tapos, according to the lawyers of David, what they actually filed for only amounts to even less than P1.5M." The company’s former marketing director was firm in saying that the checks released by David were approved by members of the board. “All company checks that David issued were authorized and with the knowledge of the board of directors. These were all supported by check vouchers that were submitted to the treasurer and accountants of the company, and discussed by David in regular meetings with the board of directors," she asserted. When asked about the company’s internal set-up, Jessica described it thus: “For day-to-day operations, it was David, or in his absence, Dr. Ed Santos, the medical director of the company. But for major decisions, David and Dr. Ed always consulted the board of directors, through meetings either at the office or outside. They met as often as needed, wala naman specific schedule. But easily, at least, once a month. Of course, the agenda would depend on what needed to be discussed at the moment, but there were usual topics like monthly reports on the sales and expenses of the company." When it comes to the finances of Beverly Hills 6750, Jessica wrote, “David is one of the signatories to some bank accounts of the company. I’m not sure who the others are." THE ISSUE OF HIGH LIVING. What about the reported “lavish lifestyle" of the couple—the posh cars, the frequent travels abroad, the grand birthday parties, to name a few? In one of PEP’s special reports, Dr. Ed Santos, the clinic’s managing director, noted, “I noticed that he's kinda lax with the way he spends money." Suzette Hahn-Lopez, the general manager of Beverly Hills 6750, described David as “generous." Arguing against these claims, Jessica said in her email, “Much has been written about this lifestyle of ours, ‘lavish’ daw or that we were ‘over generous.’ What is considered as ‘lavish’ ba? And why would being ‘generous’ be negative naman? “What I can say is that we have always lived within our means. Even the website of the company had brandished David as having a consulting company that manages the portfolio of local government projects worth more than a billion pesos. At least that was before they changed the website, and when they used his qualifications as an additional marketing tool for the company. “As for myself, I was able to set aside a small amount naman from before pa. The bottom line is that the money that we have, we earned over the years, individually and as a family. And, we make it a point to enjoy the fruits of our hard work naman, as long as we are mindful that we only spend what we can afford. “David and I were thinking nga that they made a big deal about the X5, when, modesty aside, David had been driving a BMW 5 series long before that. Like other men, I suppose, ‘yan talaga ang hilig niya. David is really a generous person. That’s how he was, even before we were together. In fact, as the mother of the family, ako nga yung mas stingy. So everything just balances out." But this is what upsets Jessica and David: They are now being charged with estafa when they never charged the clinic with their professional fees at the time she served as marketing director, and David as president. Jessica wrote: “It’s really very upsetting for us, since David and I never received any compensation from the company from the beginning. Kasi we wanted the company to grow. Kung nagpa-sweldo kami, lampas- lampas pa sa P1.8M yan. Not only that, David had been advancing his own personal money in purchasing expensive medical equipment for the company, much more than P1.5M or P1.8M. “That’s why, when they came up with these accusations, David kept insisting that the company be subjected to a full audit from any of the top 5 accounting firms, not just from any accountant. Para magkaalaman na ang lahat. But they have always refused that, which led na nga to what happened to David in Greenhills. Kaya David had to file the case against them, so the court can require the full audit that David is asking for." NEXT REPORT: Jessica Rodriguez asserts that Beverly Hills 6750’s affiliate in the U.S. exists - Philippine Entertainment Portal