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THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has affirmed the filing of
syndicated estafa charges, a non-bailable offense, against 14
persons involved in a land scam involving more than a hundred
million pesos.
In a nine-page resolution signed by Justice
Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the respondents were identified as Delia
Belita, her two daughters, Genevieve Belita and Maria Cheryl Dava,
and Salvador Ilarde Jr., Braulio Ledesma Jr., Florence Olsen, Kathy
Germentil, Rosie Estuart, Elsa Rafanan, Erlinda Gaerlan, Perla
Fernandez, Delben “Noy” Belita, and Joseph Avecilla.
“It is undisputed that respondents swindle and
defraud complainants; that since all 14 respondents participated in
it, the swindling is deemed committed by a syndicate; the aggrieved
parties are not only unrelated to one another but also reside in
different provinces. This circumstance indicates that the syndicate
was formed for the intention of committing estafa,” the resolution
said.
Belita, in her defense, contended that the
information filed against her should be downgraded to simple estafa
because the victims were not members of a farmers’ cooperative.
But the Justice secretary, invoking the Supreme
Court ruling in the case of People vs. Balasa, said that
“syndicated estafa exists if the funds were solicited from the
general public”.
The complaint was filed by businessman Antony Sy
of Spencer Realty Corp. and three other businessmen from Manila and
Zambales.
The complainants alleged that the accused
misrepresented themselves to be agents of several landowners in
Metro Manila and Zambales, and collected substantial amounts of
money from them.
Belita and her group, however, failed to
transfer titles over the property to the complainants.
No bail has been recommended against the
accused. Warrants of arrest were already issued by five Quezon City
judges against the accused, who have reportedly all gone into
hiding.
The victims are offering a cash reward of P
200,000 each for Belita and her two daughters and P100,000 each for
the other accused.
-- William B. Depasupil
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