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Thursday, October 09, 2003
Man gets 15 years for duping trader
By Raquel C. Bagnol
THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) sentenced the son of a former driver employed by the University of Southern Mindanao in Kabacan, Cotabato to a maximum of 15 years imprisonment for issuing two bouncing checks in payment for computer units he claimed were official university purchases three and a half years ago.
Judge Renato A. Fuentes of RTC branch 17 sentenced Nelson Galay, of Sunrise, Kabacan, Cotabato for estafa in a 27-page decision issued Wednesday.
The case was filed by Ferdinand Uyking, owner of King's Technology Marketing (KTM) located at Door #1, Uyking Building, Gempesaw Street, Davao City against Galay and one Jose Laburguen alias Benjo Nicolas, who remains at large.
Galay pleaded not guilty when arraigned.
Prosecution evidence shows on March 29, 2000, Laburguen purchased from KTM two units Intel Pentium 111, one set Intel Celeron, two printers and various computer accessories, all valued at P123,485.34 in behalf of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) in Kabacan, Cotabato.
As payment, Labuguen issued two postdated Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) checks under Galay's account name, dated April 11, 2000 with an amount of P27,945.74 and April 24,2000 with the amount of P95,539.60 respectively.
Uyking claimed he honored the checks because the two had transacted business with him before without problems.
But when he deposited the two checks in his Philippine Bank of
Communication account upon their maturity, both were dishonored because Galay's account had already been closed a long time ago.
USM supply officer Manuel F. Galas belied USM's involvement in the transaction and insisted that the purchase orders (PO) used by the two were falsified.
Galas claimed legitimate PO's issued by USM passes into different stages, starting from canvassing for bidders, then it goes to the budget for payment of obligation, then to the accounting office for availability of funds, to the office of the President for approval, then back to his office for recording purposes before the PO will be given to the supplier for procurement.
It was found out all signatures in the checks were forged. For the defense, Galay denied any knowledge of the checks and only knew of the charges when he received a demand letter from Uyking.
Galay claimed the checks involved were his but these were stolen from the car of his father-in-law who was also the former USM president.
He said when he received the demand letter, he went to the bank but he found out his account was already closed because it had been dormant.
He also claimed he knew Labuguen alias Nicolas who was operating a printing press in Kabacan, Cotabato. Labuguen prints USM's PO, advertising forms, and other office supplies.
After a careful investigation of the evidences pre0sented, the court found that Galay's defense is not convincing and without factual basis.
Galay did not even report the loss of the checks and he could not even recall when it was lost.
Fuentes also ordered Galay to pay Uyking P123,485.44 for the total value of the two checks issued and another P50,000 as attorney's fees.
(October 9, 2003 issue)
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