Ombudsman vows to act on cases vs ex-HDMF officials

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman assured the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the public yesterday that it would act on the cases against former officials of the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) linked to the questionable granting of housing loans to Globe Asiatique.

The anti-graft agency said it would undertake the necessary preliminary investigation and administrative adjudication once it officially receives the records of the case.

This developed as the Pasig City regional trial court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) dated Aug.26 barring the DOJ from filing syndicated estafa charges against Globe Asiatique president Delfin Lee and his business associates for alleged anomalous housing transactions in Pampanga, an abs-cbnnews.com report said.

The National Bureau of Investigation and current HDMF officials have accused Globe Asiatique officials and former HDMF officers of conspiring to allow “ghost” borrowers to tap government housing loans.

In issuing a TRO, Judge Rolando Mislang of Pasig RTC Branch 167 said “extreme urgency exists in the case” and the DOJ filing “would cause serious and irreparable injury and damage to petitioner (Lee) if petitioner faces arrest and cannot post bail.”

The DOJ on Aug. 24 found probable cause to file syndicated estafa charges against Lee; his son Dexter, who is Globe Asiatique’s executive vice president and chief finance officer; Christina Sagun, former head of GA’s Documentation Department; Cristina Salagan, head of GA’s Accounting/Finance Department; and lawyer Alex Alvarez, manager of the Foreclosure Department of the Pag-IBIG Fund.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by the NBI and Pag-IBIG (HDMF) against the respondents for allegedly conspiring to use ghost or non-existent borrowers to obtain loans from Pag-IBIG and buy housing units at Xevera Bacolor in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

The DOJ resolution said that Globe Asiatique got nearly P7 billion from Pag-IBIG using 9,951 member accounts, but some of the borrowers were fake and were not really buying Xevera houses.

The resolution said that Lee was liable for the offense as he signed the loan agreements for and on behalf of Globe Asiatique.

His son and the others had knowledge and/or direct participation in the transactions, according to the resolution.