Ironically, Remedios Fortaleza could still smile when she was meted the life sentence by Judge Ricardo Rosario after she was found guilty in five counts of large-scale-illegal recruitment and estafa.
Court records showed that six persons filed their complaints against Fortaleza for collecting money from them in exchange for what should have been guaranteed employment overseas.
Cresencio Sahorda, Jonathan Ipac, Reynaldo Jimenez, Joey Reyes Taong, Ernesto Guadalupe and Joseph Valle all claimed that the accused collected placement fees of P25,000 to P35,000 from them sometime in 1999 and promised to send them overseas at the end of that year.
However, the accused failed to fulfill her commitments to the six and even refused to give in to their demands for refunds. Fortaleza claimed that the money was turned over to the Pacific International Shipping Company where she allegedly worked as an agent. She added that part of the money was converted into loans with the consent of the complainants. – Marvin Sy