SC junks Delfin Lee's bid to stop indictment

MANILA, Philippines - A fugitive housing developer linked to allegedly anomalous housing projects in Pampanga involving loans from the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) has failed to stop his indictment.

The Supreme Court (SC) has dismissed the petition of Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. (GA) president Delfin Lee seeking to reverse the Court of Appeals (CA) decision allowing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to proceed with his indictment for syndicated estafa.

“(Lee) failed to show any reversible error in the challenged decision as to warrant the exercise of the Court’s discretionary appellate jurisdiction,” read the SC decision.

The SC faulted Lee for his failure to file the required number of copies of the petition “in violation of section 4, Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.”

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima welcomed the SC ruling, which her office had received last Sept. 27.

“This is another significant development in the quest for justice – to have the fugitive Delfin Lee answer for his actions,” she said.

“The judiciary has consistently affirmed the findings of the DOJ on this particular case, given the clear facts and the culpability of the respondent Lee.”

De Lima said Lee should now come out from hiding.

“He should not further strain the government’s resources by his continued evasion of a duly issued warrant of arrest,” she said.

Pag-IBIG had earlier said Lee’s petition was a mere tactic to prevent the DOJ and the Pasig regional trial court from proceeding with the case.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees chairman, said they expect the syndicated estafa case against Lee and the other accused – his son Dexter Lee, GA officers Christina Sagun and Cristina Salagan, and Pag-IBIG Fund legal department employee Alex Alvarez – to now proceed.

The DOJ has approved the criminal indictment of Lee and others in August last year.

The DOJ task force on securities and business scam has found probable cause to charge Lee and other respondents with syndicated estafa.

Ample basis was found in the allegations of Pag-IBIG Fund and the National Bureau of Investigation that Lee and the four others had conspired in securing at least P6.6 billion in housing loan proceeds from buyers of their housing projects.

All elements of syndicated estafa, including existence of “false pretenses, fraudulent acts or means committed prior to or simultaneously with the commission of fraud, upon which the offended party relied on,” are present in this case, investigating prosecutors said.