2 pawnshop workers charged for estafa

CEBU, Philippines – The Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has indicted two female pawnshop employees for allegedly replacing a gold necklace with a fake one.

Prosecutor Noel Cellona held Josephine Luzano and Maryjane Cajes, employees of Prime Asia Pawn and Jewelry Shop in Barangay Luz, for trial after finding probable cause for estafa against them.

Luzano and Cajes allegedly conspired in replacing the pawnshop’s gold necklace with a pendant pawned by Analyn Pogio for P7,150.

At the time of pledging, Luzano and Cajes, who reportedly entertained Pogio, were the ones who received the item which was then placed inside a sealed transparent plastic.

The two handed P6,895 to Pogio as net proceeds. The maturity date of the pawned necklace was on March 12, 2014 and the expiry of the redemption date was on June 10, 2014.

In the morning of February 22, 2014, Pogio decided to redeem the necklace earlier and was again entertained by the two. When Pogio paid the redemption amount of P7,150, Cajes returned the item to her while Luzano signed the official receipt.

Pogio wondered why the plastic was already open upon redemption and found out that the item inside was not the same as her pawned jewelry.

She then requested for the item to be examined but the two allegedly got mad, refused to recheck the necklace and even reportedly accused Pogio that it was her modus of switching the item with a fake one.

She also asked Luzano and Cajes to check the footage of the closed circuit television camera of the pawnshop but the latter refused. Pogio even dared them to call the police for investigation but the two ignored her plea.

Pogio stayed in the pawnshop until the afternoon of the same day even if Luzano and Cajes kept on telling her to go home.

Pogio’s husband came to her rescue and they remained until 6 p.m. It was then when the husband convinced Cajes to confess. Cajes later admitted that she and Luzano pawned the necklace to Gemmary Pawnshop and Jewelry at Osmeña Branch.

However, Pogio was not able to redeem the necklace from the other pawnshop since they already gave the money to Prime Asia.

Maryjane Coca, another employee of Prime Asia, took the fake necklace from Pogio but refused to return the P7,150 she paid allegedly on the ground of pending investigation. Coca also allegedly refused to report the matter to the police.

In her counter affidavit, Coca alleged she refused to return the money to Pogio but offered to redeem the pawned necklace from the other pawnshop.

She claimed that they cannot do such redemption since Pogio has not given them the receipt and allegedly also asked for P150,000 damages.

Luzano, on the other hand, claimed she was not the one who appraised the necklace of Pogio and that she allegedly left when Pogio paid her obligation.

When Luzano reportedly returned, the container of the jewelry was already opened. She allegedly later knew that it was Cajes who switched the items when the latter admitted.

However, Cajes did not submit any counter affidavit to answer the allegations.

Cellona resolved that the oral admission of Cajes, coupled by her written letter admitting the switching, is sufficient enough to hold her liable for estafa.

He also found probable cause to indict Luzano as a conspirator of Cajes when she remained cold to the plea of the complainant.

Cellona further said that he was not convinced in charging Coca, Cajes and Luzano for another count of estafa for their alleged failure to return the redemption money to Pogio.

“Reason favors the idea that the P7,150.00 should remain with the Prime Asia Pawnshop with the obligation of the latter to redeem the pawned item from Gemmary Pawnshop then deliver it to the complainant. It is worthy of note that the redemption amount is only P5,800.00 as reflected with the receipt issued from Gemmary Pawnshop,” his resolution read.

Cellona also denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Luzano for lack of cogent reason to reverse his original resolution.

The prosecutor then elevated the case of Luzano and Cajes to the Regional Trial Court and recommended P40,000 bail for each of them. —/NSA (FREEMAN)