P1.5 million check bounces

Anabelle Rama’s election heartaches aren’t over.

The celebrity talent manager, whose Cebu city congressional bid last May floundered, was sued for estafa by a cousin who said her check for P1.5 million bounced when it was presented to the bank last June.

The bank account was “closed”, prompting businessman Jose Vicente Rama del Prada Jr. to file a complaint for estafa and violation of Batas Pambansa Bilang 22 or the Anti-Bouncing Check Law against Annabelle before the Cebu City Prosecutors’ Office last Thursday.

Del Prado, who said the two were childhood friends, recalled that Annabelle approached him in November last year and asked him to exchange several of her checks for cash.

This was soon after Annabelle filed her certificate of candidacy in October to run for a seat in Congress.

“I never expected a first cousin and a close friend at that to defraud me with bouncing checks in the same way that she might have defrauded other people,” Del Prado said in his affidavit-complaint.

“Until this very day and in spite of Annabelle’s receipt of the Notices of Dishonor that were served at her residence, she still refused to make good or replace the bouncing checks that she issued me,” he said.

“Worse, she even accused me of being a traitor.”

Del Prado said he was upset to read in a local Cebuano daily that Annabelle had accused him of “selling out” to her election opponent, Raul del Mar.

Several text queries sent by Cebu Daily News to Annabelle’s mobile phone seeking comment on the complaint were not returned.

Her Cebu-based lawyer Delon Richel Urot said he wasn’t aware of the recent case.

“She has not referred that case to me as of now. I can’t comment on that,” said Urot who represented Annabelle in two libel cases against actress Nadia Montenegro which were eventually withdrawn after the parties reconciled last month.

STRAINED RELATIONS

Del Prado’s mother and Annabelle’s late father are siblings.

Annabelle is also the cousin of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, who had invited her to run in his slate for the north district congressional seat.

Their relations soured after the May 13 election, where she lost heavily to del Mar of the Liberal Party with 35,842 votes compared to del Mar’s 134,180 votes.

Annabelle in a post-election press statement accused Mayor Rama of “betrayal”, saying she had donated P3 million for the campaign but found out that there were no election watchers guarding her votes on election day.

At the time she said the P3 million was a donation of P1 million each from her children Ruffa, Raymond and Richard, who are showbiz personalities.

“The number one lesson I learned from running is don’t trust anyone except your immediate family. They should be the only people who will know about your plans for a successful candidacy,” she wrote. Mayor Rama declined to comment on her allegation.

The latest estafa case puts further strain on relations in the Rama clan.

According to Del Prado, this was the not the first time Annabelle went to him to have checks exchanged or replaced with cash. In previous dealings, the checks all cleared and she gained his trust and confidence.

This time, he had Annabelle’s checks endorsed to his brother, Dr. Alfonso del Prado, who accepted them and replaced the checks with cash.

A month after the May election, Dr. del Prado informed him that the checks, including the P1. 5 million check dated Jan. 27, 2013, bounced because Annabelle’s checking account in Banco de Oro was closed.

Since Annabelle was not answering his calls, Jose Vicente Del Prado let his lawyer Mark Elton Garrote send a final demand letter dated June 18 to his cousin at her residence in White Plains Subdivision, Quezon City.

The notice was served through the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. Last June 27, Annabelle called up the lawyer’s office to ask if indeed he had sent the demand letter.

Del Prado said he has been paying his brother back by installment for the P1.5 million check which was dishonored.

In his complaint, del Prado is seeking P500,000 in damages and 12 percent per annum as legal interest until the amount of P1.5 million is fully settled.

He said he consulted his family before loaning Annabelle money.

“In one of our private conversations, she told me that she was short of funds and that she might need to borrow money from me and/or the members of our family,” Del Prado said.

At first, Del Prado said he hesitated knowing Annabelle would need to spend a lot in her electoral bid.

“According to Annabelle, she expected funds to come and pour in from her work as a talent manager in show business and that also several persons promised to pour in donations in her campaign for the elections,” Del Prado said.

“During our meetings, she always mentioned to me that she was managing several actresses and actors that she knew were bankable and from whom she expected to earn a lot of money. These were the very same promises that she gave me in the past when she issued checks to me and which I replaced with cash,” he added. /Ador Vincent S. Mayol, Reporter