Court trashes case vs broker who issued 28 bouncing checks

By NICOLE MANAGBANAG
Correspondent

A REGIONAL court has dismissed an estafa case filed against a real estate broker who issued some 28 bouncing checks amounting to nearly P7 million.

Judge Emmanuel Pasal of the 38th branch of the Regional Trial Court of Misamis Oriental dismissed the case against Gemma Pabayo-Velasco, owner of GPV Realty, on July 28, 2016. The complainant, Vicente Tan, then filed a motion for reconsideration but Pasal denied it in an Oct. 11 ruling.

Velasco, who received a copy of the ruling over a week ago, said she and Tan were good business partners since 2006 until she started brokering for the sale of a 25-hectare property in Camacawan to the National Housing Authority (NHA) for a resettlement site for survivors of the 2011 Typhoon Sendong devastation.

Velasco said there were “minor problems” with the landowner and informal settlers, and she had to spend all her earnings to ensure a clean title.

She said she asked Tan to be patient but he went to court with his estafa case.

“What hurt me most was the estafa case. Bahala ug ignun ko ug naka utang kay normal ra man kana nga maka utang ang tao,” Velasco said.

In his Nov. 20, 2013 complaint, Tan accused Velasco of issuing 28 postdated checks amounting to PP6.852 million without sufficient funds–the checks bounced.

The court however found a lack of probable cause in the estafa case against Velasco.

“As to the argument that the issuance of the checks was the efficient cause of the fraud, the same is not reflected in the affidavit filed by the complainant,” reads part of the ruling.

The court stated that “the offended party handed the amounts to the accused not because of the postdated checks but because of the trust and confidence she (he) had on the accused as well as the promise of the fruitful project.”

The judge stated that it was “not the kind of estafa covered by Article 315 (2d) of the Revised Penal Code.”

Velasco said the filing of the estafa case was premature because their transaction with the NHA at that time was still pending.

“It was not yet consummated,” said Velasco, adding that Tan would have definitely receive his share once the transaction was completed.

In April 14, authorities served an arrest warrant against Velasco. She bailed out the same day.

Velasco has also threatened to sue another judge for issuing the warrant, and her estranged business partner. She said she was consulting her lawyer.

Velasco said she has been a licensed real estate broker for over 20 years, and she was allegedly maligned.

“For many months, my life has been in turmoil… Now, my reputation has been redeemed,” she said.