MORE NEWS, PAMPANGA

DOJ dismisses estafa raps vs Clark exec, wife
By George Trillo

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – A day after Clark International Airport Corp. chairman Nestor Mangio and his wife posted bail for five counts of estafa, the Department of Justice dismissed the cases against them and barred any party from filing an appeal.

In a 13-page resolution, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez dismissed the allegations of former provincial board member Roberto David that his signatures were forged on the deeds of absolute sale, which transferred ownership of his properties at the upscale Beverly Place in Mexico town, to Mangio sometime in 2004.

On April 28 , the regional trial court here issued arrest warrants for Mangio and his wife, Marion. The couple immediately posted P40,000 bail bond for each count of estafa.

Gonzalez cited findings of the National Bureau of Investigation showing that the signatures on the documents, which David had claimed to have been forged, “were written by one and the same person,” referring to David.

Gonzalez also noted that the authenticity of the documents “had likewise been passed upon by the Register of Deeds whose determination on whether or not the deeds bore the authentic signatures of the parties therein.”

In his resolution, Gonzalez reminded the parties involved “that no further motions for reconsideration in relation to this case shall be entertained.”

In a statement following the DOJ resolution, Mangio said his transaction with David started in 1999 when the latter sold to him a 12-hectare property at Beverly Place.

This, he said, “was on condition that after paying P5 million which was supposed to be used for paying the tenants, Mr. David will deliver the tenants’ waiver.”

Mangio, however, said David “did not fulfill his promise but instead later sold the property to Sta. Lucia Realty.”

He said David later offered to make up for this by signing a “contract of loan with mortgage with special provision for conversion into deed of sale” covering other parcels of land whose mortgages Mangio paid as part of their deal.

He said this contract justified the transfer of ownership of the disputed parcels of land.

As a “sign of good faith and innocence,” Mangio said he and his wife posted cash bail bonds as required in the warrant of arrest, adding “it was very humiliating for us to post bond on a crime we did not commit.”

Mangion an architect, said he will file counter-charges against David for “moral damages,” adding the cases were simple “extortion cases.”