MANILA, Philippines -- Actress Maxene Magalona has filed two fraud charges agains her former personal assistant before Quezon City courts for allegedly trying to dupe her family out of P70,000.00 last week.

The respondent, Edna Padiernos, has been charged before the QC metropolitan trial court for forging the signature of Magalona in attempting to encash the young actress' check for P40,000.

Padiernor was also charged with fraud with the Quezon City regional trial court for trying to get another P30,000 from the family.

Magalona said she discovered that one of her checks was missing recently and that when she checked with the bank, she learned that Padiernos tried to encash a P40,000 check with her forged signature.

On the same day that Magalona learned about the forgery, Padiernos asked the Magalonas for P30,000 to bury her mother.

Magalona and her mom then went to the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to report the forgery and the CIDG recommended setting up an entrapment.

Padiernos was arrested while receiving P30,000 in marked money.

In a subsequent interrogation, Padiernos admitted that she tried to forge Magalona's signature to be able to encash her check.