CA freezes assets of suspect in abduction of Pilar Pilapil

The Court of Appeals has frozen for 20 days the bank accounts and other assets of the primary suspect in the April 14 abduction and slay attempt on beauty queen and actress Pilar Pilapil.

In an 11-page resolution, the appellate court directed the Bank of the Philippine Islands and the Land Transportation Office to put on hold any transactions on the accounts and vehicles of Rosel Jacosalem Peñas, who is facing kidnapping and frustrated murder charges for allegedly masterminding the abduction of Pilapil.

Also covered by the freeze order were the assets and bank accounts of Peñas’ sister, Evalyn Jacosalem, and the latter’s mother-in-law, Luzvilla Agustin.

Peñas, 28, is married to Nelson Peñas, the younger brother of Pilapil’s husband, Bernie Peñas. She has since disappeared along with the vehicle she was driving on the night of the attack on April 14.

In granting the petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), the appeals court said there was “probable cause to freeze the bank accounts” of Peñas, Jacosalem and Agustin which were “ostensibly related to or involved in the unlawful activity of swindling or offenses of money laundering” as defined in Republic Act No. 9160, otherwise known as the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

“In order to avoid the possibility of the (bank deposits), its related web accounts and the motor vehicle being withdrawn, removed, transferred, concealed and placed beyond the reach of law enforcers, this court finds it appropriate and judicious to issue a freeze order,” said the resolution issued by Associate Justice Franchito Diamante.

“Wherefore, the petition for the issuance of a freeze order is hereby granted. A freeze order is issued effective for a period of 20 days from notice,” it added.

Police records showed that Peñas fetched Pilapil from a shopping mall in Ortigas, Pasig City, supposedly to meet with the former’s boss from Unilever Philippines.

While they were in the parking lot of the Riverbanks mall in Marikina City, two unidentified men reportedly entered the vehicle being driven by Peñas. The attackers repeatedly stabbed Pilapil, commandeered the vehicle and left her for dead in a grassy lot in Antipolo City.

Pilapil survived the attack.

A week after the attack, the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed a case of kidnapping and frustrated murder against Peñas and named her as the brains of the crime.

Director Samuel Pagdilao, CIDG chief, said Peñas staged her own abduction in an attempt to collect P10 million from Pilapil’s in-laws.

Peñas had reportedly borrowed money from Pilapil for the former’s supposed plan to work with Unilever in Australia. She also allegedly enticed Pilapil to invest in nonexistent businesses amounting to over P1 million.

Pagdilao said records from the Bureau of Immigration showed that Peñas never left the country for Australia and that most of the stories she told Pilapil about her supposed job were not true.