Importer facing estafa raps

CEBU, Philippines - An importer was charged with estafa for allegedly embezzling the amount he collected from his business partners intended to bribe customs officials in relation to their importation of cement from China.

The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has indicted Santiago Clarence Romoff for violation of Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code otherwise known as estafa based on the complaint filed by lawyer Steve Dicdican.

City prosecutor Nicolas Sellon elevated the complaint before the Regional Trial Court after finding probable cause and recommended a P60,000 bail for Romoff’s temporary liberty.

Dicdican, in his complaint, alleged that sometime in January 2009 lawyer Dennis Quiokeles approached him and asked if he was interested in joining a business venture with him and a few other people. Dicdican said because he had known Quiokeles for a long time he agreed to invest and attended a meeting of the group.

He said that aside from him and Quiokeles, Romoff and Danilo Ortiz were also present during the meeting. According to Dicdican, Quiokeles and the accused presented their business proposal to the group.

They suggested that their group take advantage of the lifting of the tariff on cement importation by buying cheap cement from China and selling it here in the Philippines while prices were still high. Because of the potential net earnings of 22 percent to 28 percent for the group based on their financial analysis, they agreed to embark on the cement importation business from China.

Romoff allegedly offered to broker and handle the deal using his contacts from China and with the Bureau of Customs, considering that he is already engaged in the importation business. In the following days after the meeting, Romoff allegedly started sending e-mails to them updating them of his purported negotiations with the cement suppliers from China.

Romoff also asked for an advance contribution of P125,000 from each of them because he allegedly need to bribe customs officials to ensure the “smooth importation of cement”.

Dicdican said he and Quiokeles protested because they felt they did not need to bribe customs officials anymore since the tariff on cement had already been lifted. However, Romoff reportedly insisted arguing that even if there was no more tariff on the cement importation, the customs officials could still prevent the importation for whatever reason unless they bribed them.

Dicdican said because they acknowledged the “expertise” of Romoff in the importation business they grudgingly obliged to his request.

However, Dicdican said they found out later that the money he paid supposedly as a bribe for customs officials was allegedly pocketed by Romoff.

Dicdican claimed that Romoff only used their cement importation as an alibi to exact money from them which the latter allegedly used to import several automobiles. Dicdican claimed that Romoff offered to repay the amount with an additional 20 percent interest but until now the accused allegedly failed to return the amount. — Fred P. Languido/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)