MANILA – The Court of Appeals (CA) has ordered a Pangasinense woman to return PHP63,000 to a man who was duped into paying for two cellular phones he bought online using the GCash account of the accused.
In a 17-page decision written by Associate Justice Fernanda Lampas Peralta promulgated on Dec. 14, the appellate court affirmed the Jan. 19, 2022 decision of the Benguet regional trial court finding the accused, Regina Joy Ballesteros, civilly liable to the complainant, Frank Lester Amistoso.
However, it found Ballesteros “not guilty on reasonable doubt” in estafa charges.
It was March last year when the complainant thought of acquiring two units of iPhone 12 from a sponsored advertisement on the social media platform Facebook by a certain “Cruz Mobile Tech” offering the high-end cellular phones at below-market prices.
During the exchange of online messages, the complainant was assured that the purchased units would be released within three to four hours after payment upon presentation of a valid identification card at the Globe Telecom store in SM Baguio City.
Convinced that the virtual transaction was not a scam, the complainant made payments of PHP63,000 for two units of cellular phones to the GCash account forwarded to him registered to Ballesteros with the given address of Coldit, Asingan, Pangasinan.
After making the fund transfer, Amistoso could no longer contact Cruz Mobile Tech.
Ballesteros was later arrested at the said address. She gave the same address on her booking documents with authorities and confirmed the certificate of residency issued by the barangay.
The CA affirmed the lower court in ruling that “there was no moral certainty that it was accused-appellant who committed the fraudulent representations and scheme because the prosecution failed to establish the identity of the author of the crime and the identity of the accused in relation to the actual commission of the crime.”
However, the appellate court said Ballesteros waived her right to present evidence to counter her civil liability.
She did not deny owning the GCash account that received payment from Amistoso.
Ballesteros also did not disprove that she received the PHP63,000 transferred and paid in her GCash account. (PNA)
