A COURT in Toledo City, Cebu has issued a warrant of arrest anew against businesswoman Michelle Lim Go-Chu over a multimillion-peso estafa complaint, following a prosecutor’s reinvestigation which found enough evidence to put her on trial.
Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 29 Judge Ruben Altubar ordered the arrest of Go-Chu on May 15, 2023.
Altubar set no bail and issued a hold departure order against Go-Chu, barring her from leaving the country without the court’s approval.
Personnel from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Northern Leyte Provincial Field Unit went to Go-Chu’s known residential address in Ormoc City on May 16, but they failed to find her. Go-Chu has been at large since then.
SunStar Cebu sent interview requests via email to Go’s legal counsel and called the latter several times but received no response from the counsel as of press time.
Multiple estafa complaints against Go-Chu and her co-accused Lorenzo Baltonado Jr. and his wife Jerlyn Joyce were filed by Greentech Land Development Corp. owner Kaiser Christopher Tan.
Go-Chu and her co-accused allegedly defrauded Tan of nearly P200 million in investments, the businessman said in his complaint.
Before Altubar handled the case of Go-Chu, the sala of Toledo City RTC Branch 59 Judge Judilyn Tapia Menchavez first handled the case.
Menchavez issued warrants of arrest against Go-Chu and the Baltonado couple on Jan. 23, but she later recalled the warrant issued against Go-Chu after she granted the businesswoman’s motion to let the Toledo City Prosecutor’s Office reinvestigate her case.
Go-Chu’s camp filed the motion, saying the businesswoman had not been given due process to answer Tan’s complaints.
Menchavez inhibited from presiding over the trial on March 28, citing threats on her life.
Tan’s legal counsel Francisco Amit told SunStar Cebu on May 22 that the case was re-raffled to RTC Branch 29 after Menchavez’s voluntary exit.
Toledo City Prosecutor Raul Cesar Bajarias conducted the reinvestigation, and he said in his resolution that Go-Chu failed to submit her counter-affidavit after two subpoenas were sent to her two addresses on Feb. 16.
Bajarias said the city prosecutor’s office had never received Go’s reply at the time he wrote the resolution on April 3.
“Up to now this office never received any controverting evidence from her. Not even a motion for extension to file counter-affidavit was filed. In fact, her lawyers who appeared in court in connecton with this case were asked to receive the subpoenas in behalf of their client but refused,” read a portion of Bajarias’ resolution.
Bajarias further states that he “no longer expects her to file her counter-affidavit because apparently, she is waiving the opportunity,” and thus he “has no other recourse but to sustain the filing” of charges against Go “who acted in conspiracy” with her co-accused, the Baltonado couple. (EHP, KAL)