More housing scam victims to file raps vs Lee

MANILA, Philippines - A new batch of housing scam victims is filing charges against Globe Asiatique owner Delfin Lee, Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Review in Honor of the Veterans at the Hunters ROTC Guerilla Field at the Philippine Army Headquarters in Fort Bonifacio yesterday, Binay said the new complainants are residents of other subdivisions.

“There was an arraignment. But the other victims who are coming out in the open can still file their complaints,” he said.

Binay, chairman of the PagIBIG Fund and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said the victims suffered injustice from Lee and there is sufficient evidence to pin him down.

“Double sale, falsification of documents, these are all evidence,” he said.

Binay ordered the filing of syndicated estafa charges against Lee and several Globe Asiatique officials in December 2010 after investigation showed that they used fake documents and ghost borrowers, who supposedly bought homes in Globe Asiatique’s Xevera housing project in Mabalacat, Pampanga, to secure almost P7 billion in loans from PagIBIG Fund.

“Lee has swindled PagIBIG Fund of almost P7 billion worth of housing loans and robbed thousands of Filipino families their dream of having their own home. He should not be given any special treatment,” he said.

Lee was arrested by elements of the Philippine National Police Task Force Tugis in front of the Hyatt Hotel and Casino in Manila by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by the San Fernando City Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in Pampanga in connection with a P6.6-billion PagIBIG housing loan scam.

Binay assured the members of PagIBIG, especially those defrauded by Lee, that the government will fight any and all efforts to release the Globe Asiatique owner.

“We will make sure that Lee and his cohorts will be punished for their crime, and the victims will be given the justice they deserve,” he said.