De Lima: Nothing less than syndicated estafa raps vs Globe Asiatique execs

The Department of Justice wants syndicated estafa charges filed against officials of Globe Asiatique, and nothing less.

 

This was the statement Tuesday by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima as she reiterated her earlier pronouncement that the DOJ would appeal before the Supreme Court the Court of Appeals' dismissal of the P6.65 billion syndicated estafa case against GA documentation head Christina Sagun.

 

"We won't settle for anything less than syndicated estafa," De Lima told reporters in an interview in Manila.

 

In its latest ruling, the appeals court denied a motion from the DOJ for the CA to reconsider its October 2012 ruling that ordered quashed the syndicated estafa case filed against Sagun with the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 of San Fernando, Pampanga.

 

Likeiwse, the CA ordered that the arrest warrant issued against her be recalled and lifted.

 

In its latest ruling, the CA reiterated that "Sagun's complicity with the acts imputed against the other four accused was not established."

 

"(But) I've read the DOJ resolution (recommending syndicated estafa charges) and I think there is enough basis to include Sagun in the charges along with (Globe Asiatique’s president) Delfin Lee," De Lima insisted.

 

As for Sagun's four co-accused, the CA said they can no longer be slapped with syndicated estafa charges as well because under Presidential Decree 1689, a "syndicate" committing estafa should be composed of at least five people.

 

The four remaining accused are: Lee, vice president Dexter Lee, accounting head Cristina Salagan, and Pag-IBIG Fund foreclosure manager Atty. Alex Alvarez.

 

"The remaining four accused... cannot be tagged as a syndicate... This is so because the lack of probable cause to indict petitioner Sagun for the offense of syndicated estafa and the dismissal of the DOJ Review Resolution dated August 10, 2011 changes the juridical nature of the offense charged against petitioner Sagun and the four accused," the CA said.

 

The court said now that only four accused remain, the syndicated estafa case filed against them would be "constitutionally infirm at its core."

 

The CA, however, said that even if syndicate estafa charges can no longer apply to the remaining four GA officials, the government can still "re-file the appropriate criminal charges if warranted against the other accused."

 

In its original ruling, the appellate court said that Sagun is only liable for simple negligence, based on the evidence presented.

 

“Except for her negligence, the [DOJ] has not demonstrated how petitioner could have been privy to the creation of the so-called ‘special buyers’ such that she was conscious all along that she was committing a serious non-bailable crime as syndicated estafa,” the CA said in its ruling. — RSJ, GMA News