Court orders arrest of Cavite businessman

A Cavite court has ordered authorities to arrest a businessman who threatened to kill a provincial prosecutor, the Philippine National Police said on Friday.

Aside from the PNP, Judge Aurelio Icasiano of the Trece Martirez Regional Trial Court directed the National Bureau of Investigation to apprehend Victor Arcilla Murillo of Tanza, Cavite.

Murillo was indicted by the Department of Justicefor estafa and falsification of commercial documents on complaint of a businesswoman allegedly duped of million of pesos worth of imported textile materials.

The judge also set a P40,000 bail for Murillo's provisional liberty.

Based on PNP records, Murillo, who is engaged in scrapping business, was stripped last October of his firearms licenses and permits to carry after he allegedly threatened to kill Cavite Provincial Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco and the businesswoman who earlier filed the estafa complaints against him.

Velasco asked PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome to revoke the gun licenses of Murillo for allegedly using his name in his alleged illegal activities such as gunrunning, influence peddling and illegal disposal of waste products at Cavite.

Policemen confiscated then from Murillo several high-powered firearms including a .45 caliber gun, an AK-47 rifle, two Armalite rifles, two shotguns, a .357 revolver, two 40 caliber pistols, and a Glock .40 caliber gun.

In his complaint, Velasco said that Murillo had sent him text messages, threatening him and daring him to have his house raided after he exposed his alleged illegal activities.

Businesswoman  Cecilia Fernandez of Taytay, Rizal, on the other hand, sued Murillo before the Cavite prosecutor’s office for syndicated estafa and falsification of commercial documents. 

She claimed that Murillo duped her sometime in 2009 by representing that he could facilitate the release of several rolls of imported fabrics from the Cavite Export Processing Zone Authority through the customs authorities inside, who are supposedly his contacts.

Murillo obtained from Fernandez over P800,000 as initial payment for the fabric and taxes.

However, Murillo instead delivered inferior textile materials.

The PNP said the sale of products being manufactured inside the processing zone to the local markets is prohibited as it constitutes smuggling.

Fernandez also filed charges against Murillo for allegedly threatening to kill her after she filed the estafa and falsification complaints.

DOJ Regional Prosecutor Ernesto Mendoza, in a resolution dated Nov. 14, found probable cause against Murillo and three others for duping Fernandez and altering the guarantee checks she issued for the said transaction.

“Murillo likewise defrauded Fernandez by falsely misrepresenting himself and through deceit to possess the necessary influence that he could cause the payment of the required custom duties for the release of the textile products," the resolution read.

“The unauthorized entry of the amount of P793,400 and the alteration of the name of the payee on the guarantee check changed the meaning of and made the check issued by Fernandez payable to Murillo the said amount. Thus, when Murillo deposited the subject check he tried to unjustly obtain money from the account of Fernandez without any authority whatsoever” the resolution added.

If convicted, Murillo faces more than 16 years in jail.