CA junks ‘pastillas’ case vs ex-NBI exec

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has dismissed the forfeiture case filed against a former official of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and three others for their alleged involvement in the “pastillas” scam.
The complaint was filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) against former NBI legal assistance section chief Joshua Paul Capiral, his brother and former immigration officer Christopher John Capiral, Rosalina Ang Chua and Ma. Luisa Rosario Chua.
They were accused of extorting money from immigration personnel involved in the pastillas scheme in exchange for clearing their names.
The respondents were arrested in 2020 by agents of the NBI after allegedly receiving P200,000 in marked money from then immigration personnel Jeffrey Dale Salameda Ignacio.
In filing the case, the AMLC said it found probable cause to believe that the bank accounts received proceeds from money laundering activities.
The AMLC noted the large amounts of deposits and withdrawals from the subject bank accounts totaling more than P5 million from 2016 to 2021.
The council said transactions related to the bank accounts is typical of one used in crime-related deals as it involves large, unexplained sums of money that do not correspond to the income of the Capiral brothers.
The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) had ordered the forfeiture of the money left in the bank accounts amounting to P138,000.
In appealing the RTC decision before the CA, the Capirals argued that the money laundering case has no leg to stand on following the dismissal of the criminal charges filed against them.
In reversing the Muntinlupa RTC ruling, the CA held that the AMLC failed to present sufficient evidence to support its claim that the Capirals were engaged in money laundering.
The appellate court said that while the amounts involved in the subject accounts were disproportionate to the Capirals’ earnings, the AMLC failed to show sufficient evidence linking the funds to any unlawful activity.
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