Bunny asks DOJ: Drop charges

The legal counsel of pyramid scam suspect Josephine "Bunny" German asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review the estafa case of his client who was ordered arrested and denied bail by a judge of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC).

Lawyer Norielle Oquendo said a review will show the strength of German’s position, and expose the "baselessness" of the charges against his client.

"We have filed a petition for review in behalf of our client, as we feel that our arguments and the evidence we presented were unduly disregarded by the City Prosecutor of Pasig," said Oquendo in a statement.

Earlier, Judge Pablito Rojas, of Pasig RTC Branch 70 issued an arrest warrant for German, a resident of 5 Gen. Segundo St., Barangay San Antonio, based on a complaint filed by Milagros Lipana, mother of Pasig City Councilor Rene Lipana.

German could not be located but Lipana believed that her "kumadre" is still in the country. Oquendo also refused to say where German, the wife of Reli German, former publicist of jailed former President Joseph Estrada, was.

In her affidavit, Lipana said she handed German P5 million as capital for a business she opened two years ago. After several months, German returned the money including interest to her.

When German approached her later for more capital money, Lipana said she gave her P8 million. Her computation showed that she would receive close to P9 million including interests after several months.

When German failed to honor her commitment, Lipana hired a lawyer but German ignored their demand for payment, prompting her to file charges against her. – Non Alquitran