DOJ to file charges vs Globe Asiatique chief for 2004 house sale

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Justice (DoJ) has given its go signal for the indictment of Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. founder and president Delfin Lee for the alleged “double sale” of a house and lot in San Mateo, Rizal six years ago.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordered the city prosecutor of Pasig City to file a criminal case against Lee for violation of Presidential Decree 957, a Marcos-era edict on real estate business.

In her resolution, De Lima denied Lee’s motion for reconsideration seeking a reversal of the DoJ’s July 5, 2010, order, which found him criminally liable for the alleged anomalous sale of a unit in Sta. Barbara Villas II to one Mailene Coloma.

Coloma, who bought the house and lot for P650,000 in October 2004, sued Lee after she found out that the same property was previously sold to a certain Michael Pascual.

She also discovered that the property was not registered at the Registry of Deeds under her name even after Lee’s company gave her “permit to occupy.”

According to De Lima, records and documents provided by Globe Asiatique clearly showed that there was indeed a “double sale” as claimed by Coloma.

In fact, she said Lee himself admitted in his counter-affidavit that the house and lot was sold to Pascual in February 2005, or three months after Coloma bought it from Globe Asiatique.

“Printed billing statements for the account of Pascual would confirm this. Clearly, there was a double sale,” De Lima argued.

In his defense, Lee maintained that his company did not register a contract to sell when Coloma refused to apply for bank financing after she purportedly failed to get a housing loan from the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pagibig Fund).

The real estate magnate, who is facing a string of estafa or fraud cases at the DoJ for the supposed irregularities in another housing project in Pampanga, also argued that there was no “double sale” since Pascual did not actually own the property after he failed to pay the monthly amortization.

He also declared that he did not know the transactions that Globe Asiatique entered into with Coloma because it was the firm’s marketing office, headed by Christina Sagun, which negotiated with the complainant.

But De Lima said there was probable cause to indict Lee as his corporation “holds out an officer or agent as having the power to act, or in other words, the apparent authority to act in general.”

“In the instant case, (Lee), as president of Globe Asiatique, undoubtedly allowed Christina Sagun… to enter into contracts to sell or a semblance thereof… as he has not, in the first instance, repudiated the acts of Sagun in previous transactions,” she said, adding:

“It is only now that he has done so in order to extricate himself from criminal liability.”

Coloma’s complaint was previously dismissed by the Pasig prosecutor’s office for lack of evidence, but the DoJ reversed the resolution in its review of the case, prompting Lee to seek an appeal.