Hunt for Delfin Lee, son, others launched

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have started the search for businessman Delfin Lee, his son Dexter and three officials of Globe Asiatique Realty Holdings Corp. to serve a warrant for their arrest for syndicated estafa, a nonbailable crime, in connection with two housing projects in Pampanga.

The search began after the NBI antigraft division received a copy of the arrest warrant issued by Judge Maria Amifaith Fider-Reyes, of the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 here on May 22, according to Joey Salgado, spokesperson of Vice President Jejomar Binay, quoting information relayed by the NBI.

Ricardo Diaz, NBI Central Luzon chief, said he sent a copy of the arrest warrant to the NBI antigraft division on Wednesday.

Binay chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council  and the board of trustees of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig Fund) whose funds Globe Asiatique allegedly used for unqualified borrowers who enrolled under the Special Working Group program.

Globe Asiatique’s loans for the Xevera housing projects in Bacolor and Mabalacat towns in this province reached P7.031 billion for 9,951 housing accounts from March 2008 to August 2010, documents showed.

In a resolution, Judge Reyes said the court found probable cause to charge the Lee father and son, Christina Sagun, Cristina Salagan and lawyer Alex Alvarez for syndicated estafa arising from how Globe Asiatique allegedly used fake borrowers to obtain housing loans from the Pag-Ibig Fund.

Lawyer Willie Rivera, who represents Lee, did not reply to an Inquirer call seeking reactions from his client on Thursday.

The Lees are on the Department of Justice’s travel watch list. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon