Trial of jewelry scam suspect to proceed

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has given the Mandaluyong City regional trial court (RTC) the green light to try a former assistant of philanthropist and socialite Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas for syndicated estafa for allegedly masterminding a multi-million peso jewelry scam.

In a three-page order, the CA’s 17th division through Associate Justice Normandie Pizzaro has closed and terminated the petition for habeas corpus and amparo filed by the camp of Ma. Elena So Guisande, prime suspect in the scam, after the parties agreed to proceed with the trial while allowing her to continue her medical treatment at her hospital of choice.

“The trial of this case shall resume and the arraignment at the court (Mandaluyong RTC) a quo shall push through as originally scheduled on Feb. 2, 2010. To balance the situation, the right to seek medical treatment of the subject is hereby recognized by all and the patient shall be confined at the St. Clare’s Medical Center…subject to the 24-hour custodial control of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation),” the CA said.

The CA said the agreement was reached during a deliberation held on Dec. 8 attended by lawyers of the petitioners as well as the counsels of the opposing party and doctors at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) and St. Clare’s Medical Center.

During the course of the proceedings, the CA was informed by Mandaluyong RTC Branch 208 presiding Judge Estaban Tacla that the NCMH submitted to him a report that Guisande may be discharged and is considered “fit for the rigors of trial.”

“The parties were heard on the matter and all of them were in accord with the dispositve portion of the aforesaid report,” the CA stressed.

This finding caused Guisande’s transfer from NCMH to the St. Clare’s Medical Center, guarded by at least two security personnel, after proper coordination with the trial court.

“It is understood that the case pending before RTC, Branch 208, involves a non-bailable offense where normally the accused should have been confined in jail. But considering the peculiarities of this case, the parties have all agreed to the set-up as provided in this order,” the CA noted.

Guisande is accused of syndicate estafa, a non-bailable offense, and violation of the Batas Pambansa Bilang 22 or the Bouncing Checks Law with the Mandaluyong RTC. Her co-accused includes her husband Antonio Vicente; siblings John So, Maria Melitona Sanches, Joanne Villena, and some of her employees.

Among the complainants are Christopher Arenas, son of Baby Arenas; spouses Michael and Barbara Tolentino; Agnes Huibonhoa and Doris Deborrah Palispis.

Arenas questioned the CA’s order for Guisande’s transfer to a private hospital before the Department of Justice, accusing Pizzaro of “knowingly rendering an unjust decision, resulting to unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference in the discharge of his judicial functions.”

He further alleged that it was violation of rules on the writ of habeas corpus, which provides that “record must be allowed to remain extant and cannot be revised, modified, altered or amended by the simple expedient of resort to habeas corpus proceedings.”

In their complaint, the Tolentino couple said Guisande acted as one of their sales agents in the jewelry trade who was supposed to earn on a commission basis.

But in December 2008, the couple said they learned that their jewelry, which was supposed to be sold, was being pawned or pledged. They said the postdated checks issued to them by Guisande were either issued with a stop-payment order or were worthless because the accounts were closed.

They said they also discovered that one of their other sales agents, Pamela Suanico, was acting in conspiracy with Guisande. When confronted, Suanico allegedly confessed to giving the jewelry she was supposed to sell to Guisande, who then pawns the items. The couple said they lost jewelry worth P10.7 million.

Huibonhoa, honorary consul of Gambia, said Guisande pawned the items she was supposed to sell for quick cash and again pawned the receipt for more money which she used to pay off her principals or fund her postdated payment checks “to further induce us to continue transacting with her.”

She said the total value of the pawned items amounts to P15.9 million.

The third party claiming to have been victimized by the so-called jewelry scam, Palispis basically told the San Juan Prosecutor’s Office the same story of how she lost P7.3 million in the scheme.