Wednesday, October 15, 2008 Estafa rap vs Meralco junked
THE Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Tuesday dismissed the syndicated estafa charge filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against officials of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
Pasig RTC-Branch 71 Judge Franco Falcon said complainants failed to establish in the case all the elements of syndicated estafa under Article 315, paragraph 1(b) of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Presidential Decree (PD) 1689.
Falcon also found no basis to issue warrants for the arrest of any Meralco officials.
"We are glad that the rule of law prevailed. We knew that if the decision is based on the merits of the case, the complaint will not prosper," said Meralco vice president for corporate communication Elpi Cuna Jr.
The DOJ filed a case of syndicated estafa against officials of the power firm, including Cuna, based on a complaint lodged by Pete Ilagan of National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms (Nasecore).
In his petition, Ilagan said Meralco allegedly misappropriated P889 million in customer deposits.
But the court in its ruling said: "It bears stressing that the board of directors of Meralco was not formed, but were elected by the stockholders themselves. Hence, the group is not the kind contemplated by law as being formed to perpetrate an illegal act. Therefore, the accused can never be charged of taking part in the commission of syndicated estafa not only because they are not part of a syndicate as contemplated by law in PD 1689, but more so, because there was absolutely no estafa committed."
The court explained that to constitute estafa, the law requires that the subject money or property be received by the offenders.
It said in this case, the subject amount of money was never received by Meralco's officers and directors. The money represents the accrued interests on the bill and meter deposits, which were paid by the customers, not to the accused, but to certain Meralco branches.
The court also said there was no obligation to deliver or return the same money subject of this case arising out of any express or implied trust relationship between the accused and the private complainants, contrary to the latter's assertion.
The subject amount of money was not held in trust by Meralco for its customers as the juridical relationship that existed between them is one of debtor and creditor, respectively.
The DOJ reportedly waived the necessary filing fee that Ilagan's group should have paid before the complaint was accepted for filing so that investigation into the charge could commence.
Legal luminaries said the DOJ violated its own rules just to accommodate the case filed by Ilagan. They felt that in a way the DOJ already pre-judged the case when in a statement it said that the filing fee will be settled once Nasecore wins its case in court. (MSN/Sunnex)
