One Dream president no show at DOJ preliminary probe

MANILA - Arnel Gacer, president of controversial firm One Dream Global Marketing, still did not appear before the Department of Justice's (DOJ) preliminary investigation into syndicated estafa charges filed by 18 complainants from Batangas.

Only Gacer's mother-in-law and co-respondent Belinda de Guzman, assisted by counsel Eric Tresti, appeared among the respondents.

De Guzman asked for more time to submit her counter-affidavit after complainants filed a supplemental affidavit to prove that Belinda de Guzman is the same "Linda de Guzman" named in the complaint.

De Guzman was given up to September 7 to submit her counter-affidavit.

The respondents in the case are Arnel Gacer, Jobelle de Guzman, Ariel Gacer, Richard Ramos, Jay-Ar de Guzman, Marlon de Guzmna, Judith Itoh, Jun de Guzman, Lui de Guzman, Linda de Guzman, and Joel de Guzman.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

One Dream officials sued over P3-B scam

MANILA – A syndicated estafa complaint has been filed against executives of One Dream Global Marketing Inc. over the alleged P3-billion investment scam involving the company.

The complaints were filed by 18 investors before the Department of Justice against company owner Arnel Gacer, vice president Jobelle de Guzman, and other officers identified as Ariel Gacer, Richard Ramos, Jay-Ar de Guzman, Marlon de Guzman, Judith Itoh, Jun de Guzman, Lui de Guzman, Linda de Guzman, and Joel de Guzman.

The complainants said the company used a system profit scheme in recruiting investors.

Under the scheme, investors were required to put in P888 with the promise of a "pay-out" of P1,300 after four days.

However, the complainants said One Dream suddenly stopped its operations on July 11 after getting complaints that it failed to pay back its investors.

The complainants said they filed the syndicated estafa case after the company refused to return their money despite repeated demands.

"The acts of Gacer and the other respondents -- the distribution of flyers, the spread of several hard copies of the profit making scheme, the act of telling 'rags to riches' stories, the absolute guarantee that it will only take four days to profit, the continuous assurance that our hard-earned money will undoubtedly earn profits -- are clear indications of deceit and false pretenses and fraudulent acts executed prior to and simultaneous with the commission of frauds," the complaint said.

It added that One Dream, which started operations in May this year, has no permit to engage in selling and marketing investment products.

Based on its Articles of Incorporation, the company's primary purpose is the trading, buying and selling of various goods.

Authorities are now determining the whereabouts of the respondents. -- With a report from Ernie Manio, ABS-CBN News Southern Luzon

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Palace: Arrest of Delfin Lee legal

MANILA -- Malacañang maintains that the arrest of businessman Delfin Lee is legal.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte pointed out that the Court of Appeals' (CA) decision on Lee's case was on appeal, thus the warrant for his arrest was not recalled.

"I received several queries about this and the position of Pag-IBIG, DOJ (Department of Justice), and of government is this: that when the Court of Appeals handed down the decision stating that one of the five respondents should not have been included, thereby, making it seemingly impossible to prosecute for syndicated estafa which requires five. So lumalabas po apat na lang sila. Government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court. The mode of appeal as lawyers like to call it was under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. Thereby, hindi po naging final and executory dahil nagsampa tayo ng apela yung naging desisyon ng Court of Appeals," Valte explained.

"And proved positive of the fact that it did not become final and executory are two things: one, the warrant of arrest was not recalled, which is normally the case in case the quashing has been made final, hindi po siya ni-recall; at pangalawa, yung hold departure order against Mr. Delfin Lee was not lifted. We all know that hindi naman po kayo magkakaroon ng hold departure order kung wala din kayong nagiging paglilitis sa ating mga korte," she added.

Valte said Malacañang welcomes the development.

"I recall it, at one event, the President did mention: 'Na kahit kayo magtago, mahahanap at mahahanap natin kayo.' So this is a good step at least for government because finally cases can move. So at least, you know, they can -- efforts that used to be concentrated on finding this particular person can now be diverted to other persons that need to be tracked down."

She said this development should be a signal to complainants in the Globe Asiatique estafa cases not to lose hope.

"Siguro po prior to the arrest of Mr. Delfin Lee, yung mga nag-reklamo din po sa Globe Asiatique baka yan din po yung nararamdaman. Ngunit tingnan po naman natin yung biglang -- the sudden turn of events na...kagabi lang po nasa government custody na siya. So it will move on. Iyon nga ho ang sinabi ng Pangulo. While iniisip po nila na makakapag -- makakatakbo po sila at makakapagtago, mahahanap at mahahanap din po sila," Valte said.

Lee was arrested Thursday night by Task Force Tugis operatives in the lobby of the Hyatt hotel in Manila.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com