Delfin Lee daughter Divine included in new fraud suit
Divine Lee FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — Television host Divine Lee has been included as a respondent in a syndicated estafa complaint filed with the National Bureau of Investigation against her father Delfin Lee, her brother Dexter, and five other officials of Globe Asiatique Tower 2 Condominium.
Unit buyers of the GA Tower 2 formally filed their complaint on Wednesday at the NBI- Anti Graft Division headed by lawyer Romy Asis.
Based on the complaints of Beth Clapano, Lydia Domingo and Cris Villavicencio included in the complaint sheet were Ma. Celina Cano, Fernandina Enage, Thebram C. Cuyugan, Imelda Saulo and Alex Alvarez.
The new set of complainants said their complaint was different from those of the other victims of Lee’s realty company.
“We are also victims of fraud and double selling of Globe Asiatique. We decided to file the case not only to secure our investment, but also for justice,” Villavicencio said in an interview.
The complainants in their statements said Divine, the socialite daughter of Delfin, was included in the rap sheet in her capacity as the chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of GA Tower 2 Condominium in Mandaluyong City when the transactions took place.
“We cannot understand when we see her on TV acting like nothing is wrong, she should be held accountable,” the complainants said.
The complainants attached a copy of the Security and Exchange Commission General Information Sheet bearing the name of Divine as official of GA tower 2.
Lee was also named as one of directors and incorporators of the condominium in the documents submitted by the realty firm to the SEC on March 18, 2010.
The complainants said that based on the incorporation papers that the firm submitted to the SEC, Lee as an officer of the condominium corporation was responsible for the management and operations of the building.
Buyers of GA Tower 2 units have accused Delfin Lee and his company of “double-selling.”
In the complaints they filed with NBI, the buyers of GA Tower 2 units said their units were in the names of other people who had taken out loans from Pag-IBIG.
Domingo said she found out about the scam after she was informed by Pag-IBIG that her unit was named under another person and could not receive her payments “because I did not owe them and the unit was under another person’s name.’’
She added that she had earlier communicated with GA management and asked for a refund of her money.
“Of the P1.2 million hard-earned money I paid to GA, they said they could only return P59,000 after deductions,’’ Domingo said.
Domingo also said that she began paying the unit in its pre-selling stage.
“They cannot claim the other buyer is the first buyer, because I purchased it during the pre-selling stage,’’she said.
Domingo added that from the start, she wanted to get a loan from Pag-IBIG to avail of low interest and low monthly amortization, but was given various excuses by GA employees so she would not avail of the Pag-IBIG loan.
“They waited for the time that I got tired of following up my request for the Pag-IBIG loan. I wanted the Pag-IBIG loan, not the in-house financing they offered. Now I realized why they insisted on an in-house mode of payments,’’ Domingo said.
Villavicencio said that she decided to file charges against GA officials to get justice.
“It was hard-earned money that we paid them. We chose GA because we believed in their promos, which turned out to be fake,’’ Villavicencio said.
Clapano said that more buyers would file their complaints before the NBI.
The victims said they decided to file a formal complaint before the NBI following the arrest of Divine’s father Delfin, from the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel Casino on Pedro Gil Street in Manila’s Ermita district almost a month ago.
Lee was alleged to be the brains of the P7-billion housing scam that had victimized hundreds of house buyers, mostly middle income families.
Lee was using a Porsche Cayenne (XRE-761) at the time he was arrested, according to police reports.
He is now detained, in Pampanga provincial jail after the Court of Appeals affirmed his arrest issued by a Pampanga court in May 2012.
Police records also showed that Lee, while being a fugitive, was also reported to have visited the residence of Divine at the upscale Renaissance condominium at the Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
The complainants filed their sworn complaint before NBI agent and lawyer John Mengullo.
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