Binay: Pag-Ibig, NBI continue to help Asiatique land scam victims

MANILA, Philippines - The Pag-IBIG Fund and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) continue to help the victims of the alleged double sale of house and lots by property developer Globe Asiatique (GA), Vice President Jejomar Binay said yesterday.

Binay, board chairman of the Pag-IBIG Fund and head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said the two agencies will not stop helping the victims – who claimed they found the Xevera Homes property they had been paying for was in another person’s name – despite the fact that Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Rolando Mislang issued a “preliminary injunction” preventing the Department of Justice (DOJ) from filing charges against GA owner Delfin Lee for syndicated estafa.

He said Pag-IBIG and the NBI have so far assisted 28 persons file charges before the DOJ against Lee and other GA officials.

According to Binay, Pag-IBIG filed an omnibus motion asking Mislang to inhibit himself from the case because the RTC does not have jurisdiction to hear it and that the judge is reportedly biased in Lee’s favor.

“The motion was submitted for resolution on Nov. 9 last year. However, up to this date Judge Mislang has not yet resolved the motion. This prompted Pag-IBIG to file an urgent motion to resolve the pending issues, but to no avail,” Binay said.

Binay said Pag-IBIG has also filed an administrative complaint against Mislang before the Supreme Court. The DOJ filed a petition against Mislang’s orders before the Court of Appeals. This petition is still pending.

Last year, Pag-IBIG filed a case against Lee for using a “modified ponzi” scheme that defrauded the government of about P6.65 billion. Pag-IBIG alleged that the GA used “fictitious buyers” to get loans from Pag-IBIG for its Xevera housing project in Pampanga.

An investigation conducted by the NBI stated that GA used fake documents for thousands of ghost buyers for the Xevera project.