CA junks petition for TRO filed by Delfin Lee’s co-accused in syndicated estafa case

Delfin Lee. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the petition to nullify the arrest warrant of a co-accused of housing developer Delfin Lee in connection with the syndicated estafa cases filed against them in a Pampanga trial court.

In an April 7 resolution, the appeals court’s sixth division denied the March 16 petition for certiorari and prohibition filed by Christina Sagun, the documentation officer of Globe Asiatique (GA), Lee’s real estate development company. Sagun had asked the court for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the government from implementing the arrest warrant against her.

The appellate court division denied Sagun’s plea on the ground that she “failed to show grave and irreparable injury, which may befall her if the arrest warrant issued against her was not recalled or enjoined from being implemented.”

“We are unconvinced that the petitioner has shown a clear and unmistakable right to be protected, or there is an urgent and paramount necessity for the issuance of a TRO to prevent serious and irreparable damage to her should the warrant for her arrest not be recalled or quashed,” the court said of Sagun.

The court also denied Sagun’s plea because the Supreme Court issued a TRO last March 12 and March 19 on its resolutions dated Nov. 7, 2013 and Oct. 3, 2013, which had recalled the arrest warrants of Lee, Sagun and three other co-accused facing trial in connection with the alleged P7 billion housing scam perpetuated by GA.

“To grant the TRO prayed for by herein petitioner Christina Sagun will be to directly contravene and disobey the TROs issued by the Supreme Court, which remains effective until further orders, enjoining us from implementing our decisions… Thus, the application for the issuance of a temporary restraining order prayed for by (Sagun) is denied,” said the court resolution penned by Associate Justice Ramon Cruz.

The appellate court division ordered Sagun to comment on the resolution, including her plea for a preliminary injunction, within 10 days from notice.

Concurring with Cruz were Associate Justices Hakim Abdulwahid and Romeo Barza.

The court had dismissed the syndicated estafa case against Lee, Sagun, Lee’s son Dexter, GA executive Cristina Salangan and Pag-IBIG Fund lawyer Alex Alvarez.

They were accused of using fake documents and ghost borrowers to obtain more than P7 billion in loans from the government Pag-IBIG Fund for GA housing projects in Pampanga. GA buyers found there were multiple owners of their units in some cases, while in others, loans were taken out in the name of persons who had no idea their names were used.

Lee is detained at the Pampanga provincial jail following his arrest last month in a hotel in Manila.

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