One Dream execs no-shows at DOJ; hearing reset to Sept. 1

Officials of the One Dream Global Marketing Inc., accused of orchestrating an investment scam, failed to appear at the Department of Justice for the preliminary investigation of the syndicated estafa complaint filed against them.

One Dream president and chief executive officer Arnel Gacer and 10 other officers of the company sent instead their lawyer, who asked for more time for his clients to reply to the charges.

“We were not able to submit a counter-affidavit because the copy of the complaint affidavit was only given to us this morning. They (Gacer and others) don’t even know the specification of the complaint,” lawyer Elmo Triste told reporters after the hearing.

The DOJ preliminary investigation panel, chaired by state prosecutor Susan Villanueva, granted Triste’s request and set the next hearing on September 1 for the reception of the respondents’ counter-affidavits.

Aside from Gacer, other respondents in the case were One Dream vice president Jobelle de Guzman; incorporators Ariel Gacer, Richard Ramos and Jay-Ar de Guzman; and management team members Marlon de Guzman, Judith Itoh, Lui de Guzman, Linda de Guzman and Joel de Guzman.

The syndicated estafa suit was filed by 18 victims from Lipa City, Batangas who claimed they were duped a total of P3.3 million. They claimed they subscribed to One Dream’s investment offer last May after being promised a 10-percent daily return of investment or a 300-percent monthly profit.

However, last month, the One Dream office in Lipa abruptly stopped operations and later closed down. The investors also found out that One Dream had no authority to operate an investment scheme.