The owner of Globe Asiatique has asked the Supreme Court to stop the Department of Justice (DOJ) from filing syndicated estafa charges against him.
In a 27-page petition for review, Delfin S. Lee urged the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the DOJ and eventually overturn the Court of Appeals ruling allowing the DOJ to file charges against him.
“Petitioner faces criminal cases for syndicated estafa, a nonbailable offense. A person of the stature of the petitioner lives and dies on his reputation. The public accusation and the highly publicized and media-fueled demolition job against him have all but ruined his business and reputation,” Lee said in his petition.
“To allow the continuation of the criminal cases against him would undoubtedly cause serious and irreparable injury and damage to petitioner—damage which he or his business may no longer recover from,” he added.
Lee said he could be arrested and would not be allowed to post bail while his trial is ongoing.
“Clearly, to expose petitioner to unnecessary trauma, hardship, inconvenience, anxiety and fear associated with criminal prosecution amounts to grave and irreparable injury which must be prevented through the issuance of a TRO or (a writ of preliminary injunction),” he said.
The Court of Appeals struck down the order of the Pasig City Regional Trial Court which blocked the criminal prosecution of Lee in connection with the P6.65 billion in allegedly fraudulent housing loans obtained from the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-Ibig.
In allowing Lee’s indictment, the appellate court said Pasig City RTC Judge Rolando Mislang committed grave abuse of discretion when he issued an injunction on Sept. 5, 2011, stopping the DOJ from filing a case against Lee and others for syndicated estafa.
“To reiterate, an injunction will not lie to enjoin a criminal prosecution because public interest requires that criminal acts be immediately investigated and protected for the protection of society,” the court said in a 27-page ruling.
“It is only in extreme case that an injunction will lie to stop criminal prosecution,” it said.
The ruling was penned by Associate Justice Franchito Diamante and concurred in by Associate Justices Mariflor Castillo and Edwin Sorongon. In issuing the injunction, Mislang had agreed with Lee that an existing “prejudicial question” must first be resolved before the DOJ could pursue the criminal complaint against Lee.