Ex-Cebu mayor convicted of estafa

CEBU CITY — The woes of this former Cebu town mayor never seem to be over.

The other day, the court sentenced former Compostela Mayor Gilbert Wagas to up to 30 years in prison in connection with a case for estafa filed against him by a rice dealer.

Regional Trial Court Judge Gabriel Ingles found Wagas guilty of issuing an insufficiently funded Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) check for P200,000 to pay for 200 bags of rice he ordered from complainant Alberto Ligaray.

Ligaray claimed that on April 30, 1997, Wagas called him to place the order, promising to issue a check.

The rice dealer initially refused unless the payment was in cash but the former mayor was reportedly insistent so he eventually relented and approved the delivery that same day.

Wagas then issued a signed check to be drawn against his account with the BPI branch in Mabolo. The check, bearing serial number 0011003 and dated May 8, 1997, was for P200,000.

But when Ligaray attempted to cash the check, he was told by the bank that the drawee account had insufficient funds.

Ligaray said he immediately informed Wagas about the matter and was given assurance that the account would be settled before Wagas would go to Manila for a meeting.

But Ligaray said Wagas had since then refused to settle the account despite repeated demands.

Wagas denied calling Ligaray to place an order for 200 bags of rice and claimed that the P200,000 check he had issued was for his brother-in-law for the purchase of a property.

The court, however, discovered that the brother-in-law whom Wagas cited was the one who received the rice order for him and that the former mayor’s alibi about the check was a mere fabrication since he admitted selling a property to pay for his obligation to Ligaray.

The court said the rice dealer’s testimony proved to be more credible after finding no motive why he should falsely impute the crime upon Wagas.

The court also ordered Wagas to pay Ligaray P200,000 in damages and P30,000 in attorney’s fees.

Last October, the Sandiganbayan sentenced Wagas and his former municipal treasurer, Dominador Maravillas, to life imprisonment or at least 40 years for failing to account for P376,618.65 in cash advances.

Wagas and Maravillas were also told to repay the government the exact amount in question. — Freeman News Service