THE government’s main home mortgage agency Pag-IBIG Fund is disheartened by the Supreme Court (SC) in Delfin Lee’s P6.6-billion Globe Asiatique scam case, but declared the fight for justice is not yet over.
On Tuesday (July 31), the high court downgraded the syndicated estafa case, against Lee to only simple estafa, a bailable offense, affirming a Court of Appeals ruling on the case.
“We’re saddened by the recent turn of events in the Globe Asiatique scam case, but we continue to trust in due process and our justice system. This recent decision of the Supreme Court does not mean that he is innocent of fraud.
The trial will continue. We will continue to pursue what is in the best interest of the Fund, our members and all the homeowners and borrowers affected by Lee’s actions,” said Pag-IBIG Fund CEO Acmad Rizaldy P. Moti.
He continued, “Pag-IBIG Fund shall closely coordinate with the Department of Justice (DOJ), being the lead counsel and public prosecutor, to determine the next steps we will take.”
In 2012 Delfin Lee, his son Dexter Lee, Christina Sagun, Cristina Salagan and Atty. Alex Alvarez were indicted for syndicated estafa after separate probes of the DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation concluded that Lee and his cohorts used fake buyers and fraudulent documents to deceive Pag-IBIG Fund into releasing loan proceeds in the amount of P6.6 billion to his firm, Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp.
Lee went into hiding to evade the case but he was nabbed by the police in March 2014. His cohorts are still at large to this day.
In ruling to downgrade the charges to simple estafa, the court agreed with Lee’s lawyers that he could no longer be prosecuted for syndicated estafa, as such a charge requires at least five respondents. Two of Lee’s coaccused were cleared earlier, rendering the syndicated estafa case against him untenable on that technicality.