MANILA – A Pasay court has cleared three of five suspects nabbed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in an entrapment last year for allegedly defrauding a government contractor.
Pasay Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 115 Judge Edilwasif Addiri ordered the dismissal of the estafa case against Dina Joson Castro, Ma. Luisa Barlan and Helen Remolador "for failure of the prosecution to present evidence to support a finding of probable cause."
In its order dated Dec. 11 and shared online recently, the court ordered the NBI and the Quezon City Police District to release the three unless they are being held for other lawful cause.
However, the case against Ryan Dino (alias David Luis Tan) and Carlo Maderazo will proceed, “considering that the prosecution has provided sufficient evidence for a finding of probable cause for the commission of the offense of estafa."
The charges involved a complaint filed by government contractor, Rodolfo Ambabag, who sought a supply contract for the Pasay Harbor Reclamation Project.
The group, the NBI said, made representations of links with the office of a senator and urged the complainant to come up with a "lock-in payment fee" of PHP500,000 and an initial payment fee of PHP100,000 to secure the contract.
The five underwent inquest proceedings following the “Oplan Lambat (Net)” operation by the NBI Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division on Nov. 20, 2023.
Tan and Maderazo were caught with PHP10,000 marked money.
Operatives then contacted a certain "Ate Dina New" and "Ellen" who messaged the two through their mobile phones, asking if the money have been obtained and ordering them to go to a meeting site.
In clearing the three, the court ruled that the phone messages "could not be interpreted to mean conspiracy between the accused without context" and that "the statements [have] many connotations and cannot be conclusively or logically believed (that the three) had knowledge of the transactions entered into by Tan and Maderazo."
The court also noted that the prosecution did not submit screen copies or transcript of the alleged messages.
Meanwhile, defense counsel Vladimir Bugaring said Tuesday that the court order proved his clients had no participation in the alleged scam.
"Justice is in the air," the lawyer said. (PNA)
