Ombudsman affirms plunder case vs Chavit's auditor

MANILA, Philippines - Five years after former President Joseph Estrada’s conviction, the plunder trial against one of his co-accused who was a former auditor of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, is finally going to proceed.

In a 14-page Joint Order, the Office of the Ombudsman informed the Sandiganbayan yesterday that accused Yolanda Ricaforte’s motion for reconsideration of an April 2001 decision to indict her has been denied.

Government lawyers led by Deputy Special Prosecutor John Turalba are expected to ask the anti-graft court to issue a warrant of arrest and to set the arraignment date after a hearing on Friday.   

Records showed the trial against Ricaforte was delayed for over a decade after she claimed she was not given the chance to defend herself fully during the preliminary investigation.

Ricaforte also claimed she did not receive a copy of the April 2001 ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman finding probable cause to charge her with plunder.

In her motion, filed through lawyer Pacifico Agabin, Ricaforte asked for the suspension of trial, which the Sandiganbayan granted.

The Sandiganbayan ordered the Ombudsman to complete its probe and to later resolve the respondent’s motion for reconsideration filed in 2012.

Ricaforte claimed she should not be indicted for plunder because “there is no direct evidence that she conspired with her co-accused in the commission of the crime of plunder.”

She pointed out that “what emerged from the record is that she received and audited the collections of Luis ‘Chavit’ Singson” and deposited the money in banks.

Ricaforte argued that the alleged connivance between her and Estrada is “hearsay culled merely from the records of the proceedings before the Senate impeachment court held in October 2000.”

The special panel of prosecutors tasked to resolve her appeal headed by Deputy Special Prosecutor Jesus Micael, however, junked her arguments and declared her motion for reconsideration as without merit.

“Ricaforte did not present new matter or newly discovered evidence that would warrant a reversal of the Joint Resolution. Neither had she presented grave errors of facts or laws committed by this office that are prejudicial to her interest,” stated the Joint Order approved by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales last Sept. 14.

The panel, whose members include Armando Sanchez Jr., Francisca Maullon-Serfino, and Maria Olivia Elena Roxas, said the conspiracy between her and Estrada was clearly established.

“She admitted that she received, audited, and deposited money to several bank accounts and gave P200 million to Edward Serapio for the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation,” the joint order read.

“The money which she deposited to several bank accounts came from illegal gambling. Unquestionably, she aided former President Estrada in accumulating ill-gotten wealth for which the latter was found guilty of plunder,” the panel said.