MANILA -- Investment scam leader Jachob "Coco" Rasuman and his wife, Princess, pled not guilty on Tuesday to the multi-million peso syndicated estafa cases pending before courts in the cities of Marawi and Iligan.
The arraignment for the P14.2-million suit was done before the sala of Judge Juenida Papandayan of the Marawi City Regional Trial Court branch 10, said Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela in a text message.
Escorted by agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the couple arrived at 6:05 a.m. at the Laguindingan International Airport in Misamis Oriental, which is around two hours away from Marawi.
The couple also denied involvement in the P87.5-million syndicated estafa case at the Iligan City Regional Trial Court branch 1, said Valenzuela, head of the panel of prosecutors.
The Rasumans, currently detained at the NBI headquarters in Manila, allegedly defrauded investors by posing as a group involved in oil exploration, petroleum sale, stock market investment and car trading.
Last October, the Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s request to transfer to the Manila RTC the cases in Cagayan de Oro RTC branches 20 and 23.
Rasuman’s father and former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretary Basher Sr.; mother Ema; brothers Basher Jr., Jeremiah and Jerome; and father-in-law Sultan Yahya Jerry Tomawis were also charged in the said cases. (Sunnex)