Former Pagadian City Mayor Samuel S. Co. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Court of Appeals (CA) has allowed the release on bail of former Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co who is facing a case of syndicated estafa for his alleged involvement in the reported P12-billion Aman Futures investment scam.
In an 18-page decision, the appeals court’s Special Eleventh Division through Associate Justice Sesinando Villon reversed and set aside the May 11, 2015 order issued by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Albert J. Tenorio.
READ: Investment scam: Third estafa complaint filed vs Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co
Tenorio denied Co’s application for bail but granted the bail bid of the latter’s wife Priscilla. The Manila Court, orders dated Aug. 24 and Dec. 15, 2015, also denied Co’s motion for reconsideration.
READ: Ex-Pagadian City Mayor, wife arrested for estafa
The Manila Court, in denying Co’s bail bid, gave weight to the allegation that the former local chief executive used his position as Pagadian City mayor to induce the victims to invest their money in Aman Futures.
The lower court also noted that the issuance of a temporary business permit showed complicity with the perpetrators of the scam.
But the appeals court said “this court finds that these unsubstantiated allegations do not constitute strong evidence of guilt on the part of petitioner, as would warrant the denial of his plea for provisional liberty.”
The appeals court said records showed that the victims did not directly transact with Co to accuse him of using his position to influence Aman Future’s investors.
“Petitioner was not even present before, during or after the time [the victim] made his investments,” the appeals court said.
The CA added that the issuance of licenses and business permits “merely shows that it complied with the requirement of submission of the requisite documents pertinent to the application, and nothing more. It does not establish petitioner’s complicity with the business of the persons in whose favor the temporary business permit were issued.”
The appeals court added that there was also no evidence showing that Co invited the public to invest in Aman through the radio or through an organized barangay (town hall) meeting.
“All told, the evidence of the prosecution has failed to establish strong evidence of petitioner’s participation in the alleged fraudulent scheme of Aman Futures. The prosecution failed to prove that petitioner performed any overt act in furtherance of the alleged conspiracy,” the appeals court said.
Co was ordered to post a cash bond of P500,000 for his temporary liberty unless he has other pending cases. RAM/rga