Delfin renews plea in SC vs syndicated estafa case

MANILA, Philippines - Globe Asiatique president Delfin Lee has insisted on his bid before the Supreme Court (SC) to stop his indictment on syndicated estafa charges for the allegedly anomalous housing projects in Pampanga worth P6.6 billion.

In a motion filed through lawyer Rony Garay earlier this week, the embattled businessman again asked the high court to order his release and quash the charges against him.

He reiterated that the allegations against him were “fabled by” the Home Development and Mutual Fund, also known as Pag-IBIG Fund.

“To date, or after more than four years of media hype for the P6.6-billion damage allegedly sustained by Pag-IBIG, Globe Asiatique and its officers have not received any demand letter for the said amount. There is no pending case filed by HDMF against Globe Asiatique for the alleged P6.6-billion damage,” Lee pointed out.

He also stressed that Pag-IBIG could not participate in the syndicated estafa case now pending before Pampanga regional trial court (RTC) because it has not paid the required filing fee of P130 million. 

Lee also cited the pending civil case before the Makati RTC Branch 58, where the Pag-IBIG Fund filed a counterclaim of only P12 million against him. 

Lee said nowhere in the civil case, where he won, did Pag-IBIG affirm the amount reached P6.6 billion. In the case, the RTC has found Pag-IBIG liable for damages for breach of contracts.

“The Court of Appeals (CA) sustained this summary judgment by declaring that Judge Eugene Paras of RTC 58 of Makati City did not commit grave abuse of discretion in rendering the summary judgment,” Garay stressed.

Garay also belied the charges that GA used ghost or fictitious buyers in the scam.

 â€œThe claimed ghost or fictitious buyers are actually the defaulting buyers/borrowers whose Pag-IBIG memberships were certified thru its own form known as Membership Status Verification Slip (MSVS). Pag-IBIG approved their loan applications and post-validated their qualification within 30 days from loan take-out. This is the finding of Makati RTC 58 in the summary judgment and affirmed by the CA.  

“The introduction of ghost or fictitious buyers will do no good to Globe Asiatique because it has a buy-back guaranty of five years. Thus, it is Globe Asiatique which has been victimized by the negligence of Pag-IBIG in allowing unqualified buyers to buy from the Xevera projects,” he added.