Gaisano son-in-law nabbed for syndicated estafa

MANILA, Philippines — A son-in-law of Cebuano mall tycoon Eddie Gaisano was arrested recently over a syndicated estafa case involving a P24-million investment anomaly.

Derwin Wong, who is married to Gaisano’s daughter Eda Frances, was served an arrest warrant at a condominium in Makati City last April 17, according to Department of Justice records.

Apart from Wong, the Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 7’s April 8 arrest warrant includes Wong Chung Yin alias David Wong, Derick Wong, Diane Wong, Davidson Wong, Lucy Chua, Juvy Ting, Susan Lu, Beverly Ansay and Leonardo Marsan. All of Wong’s co-accused remain at large.

Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan also issued a hold departure order and directed the Bureau of Immigration to prevent the accused from leaving the country.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed by another daughter of Gaisano, Valerie Gaisano-Sebastian, over the alleged unauthorized trading of her investment amounting to over P24 million.

Derwin, whose family used to run DW Capital Inc. (DWCI), will remain in detention while on trial for syndicated estafa, a non-bailable offense.

In her com­plaint, Gaisano-Se­bas­tian said Derwin convinced her and some members of her immediate family to entrust the trading of their shares to DWCI.

She alleged that a review of DWCI’s transactions revealed that there were unauthorized sales of her shares of stock amounting to P24.3 million.