Freeze on Dominguez assets extended

The Court of Appeals has extended for six months its order temporarily freezing the assets and accounts in several banks of two suspected car-theft leaders, their relatives and other alleged associates.

In issuing the maximum period for the government to hold one’s assets, the appellate court ruled that brothers Raymond and Roger Dominguez and their fellow respondents failed to rebut the evidence presented by the
Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) against them.

The brothers, said to be the leaders of the Dominguez car theft gang, were charged in connection with the gruesome murders of car dealers Emerson Lozano and Venson Evangelista earlier this year.

“All in all, good causes have… been shown to extend the freeze order on the subject bank accounts and web of related accounts and deposits,” the court said in its June 28 resolution.

“In fact, private respondents did not specifically dispute the allegations of the AMLC in its petition regarding the existence of the subject bank accounts and the transactions made on these accounts,” it added.

Associate Justice Michael Elbinias authored the ruling with Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Celia Librea-Leagogo concurring.

In its ruling, the appellate court stressed the need to further prohibit transactions in the banks accounts and pieces of property covered by the 20-day freeze order it issued against the respondents on June 6.

According to the court, the amounts in the bank deposits were “significantly small” as shown in the documents submitted by the respective banks listed in the previous order.

The AMLC petition, however, did not indicate how much money the accused had in their accounts in Banco De Oro, Unibank, Metrobank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Development Bank of the Philippines and Planters Development Bank.

The petition for a freeze order was based on the information given to the police by confessed gang members Alfred Mendiola and Ferdinand Parolan on January 11.

Apart from those owned by the Dominguez brothers, the freeze order included the accounts and assets registered under the names of their parents, Betty and Leopoldo, and Raymond’s girlfriend, former starlet Katrina Paula (Angeline Samonte-Yap in real life).

In addition, the appellate court momentarily suspended transactions on the accounts of Vicenta Dominguez, Paula’s daughter Athens Samonte-Yap, Jayson Miranda, Enrique Carl G. Lopez, Megalizer Agri Products Inc. and suspected gang members Benigno Buzon Victorino and Myvanwy Magsino.