A day after guilty verdict, Pinoy acquitted of theft in Saipan

A Filipino accountant in Saipan was cleared of charges of stealing over $120,000 from the company he worked for after he was found guilty on Thursday.

Reports said CNMI Superior Court Associate Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona reversed on Friday a jury’s guilty verdict on the case of Edgardo Macabalo, from Caloocan, after she reviewed the records of the case.

Macabalo, a former accountant at Marpac Inc., was joined by his family at the CNMI Superior Court on Friday when the decision of not guilty due to lack of evidence was announced.

The Filipino accountant believed that justice has been served and thanked the Public Defender’s Office for the assistance extended to him in the case.

Macabalo had been found guilty of all 13 counts of theft by deception for stealing over $120,000 in beer delivery collection in 2005.

Macabalo’s counsel Assistant Public Defender Richard Miller filed a renewed motion for judgment of acquittal that was granted.