THE monetary reward for anyone who could provide information that would lead to the arrest of couples Lorenzo Baltonado Jr. and Jerlyn Joyce and Michelle Lim Go Chu and Lloyd Lawrence Chu, who are facing charges for large-scale estafa, has been raised from P1.5 million to P5 million.
This was announced by Cebu-based businessman Kaiser Tan and his legal counsel Francisco Amit Jr. in a media interview on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.
Amit said Go Chu’s husband, Lloyd Lawrence Chu, was also added in the wanted list after the Regional Trial Court’s (RTC) branch 17 in Cebu City and branch 29 in Toledo City issued warrants for his arrest on August 14, 2023 and May 15, 2023, respectively.
He added that the 18th Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) also dismissed the petition that was pushed by Go Chu's camp to render the arrest warrant issued by Toledo City court as invalid.
In their ruling, the CA argued that Go Chu had 15 days from the time she got the arrest warrant from the court to file a motion for reconsideration or before May 30, 2023, but she instead filed a petition for certiorari on June 22, 2023.
Because of this, Amit urged the police in the Central Visayas and the neighboring regions to find the accused to be held accountable for their crimes.
"I call on my brothers sa PNP (Philippine National Police) nga unta para mahatagan og hustisya both parties kay ang hustisya dili lang man ni para kang Kaiser apil sad nila, kung tinuod man galing ang ilang pamasangil persecuted sila, wala sila gi prosecute, atubangon nila ang kaso," Amit said.
(I call on my brothers in the PNP in the hopes that justice will be served to both sides, because justice is not only for Kaiser but for both of them; if their claims that they were wrongly persecuted are accurate, they too must stand trial).
Anyone with information about the sought individuals is encouraged to contact their local police station in order to get the reward.
Amit believes that they have not yet left the country because the Bureau of Immigration personnel are keeping an eye on them.
Go Chu, meanwhile, has not yet released a statement on the issue. (AYB, TPT)