qualified theft

good evening atty., please tell me po kung tama ang understanding ko, once there is agreement between me (as my sister's representative) and the complainant together with our lawyers, it is better if we go to Philippine Mediation Center and don po i-document yun agreement? Sorry po ha, actually I don't have an idea kung ano gagawin sa Mediation Center. Or after mag-sign ng both parties dadalhin namin yun document sa Mediation Center?
Please explain po, and more power to you and your family

meet first with the lawyers and thresh out the details. once there is a draft agreement, you can proceed to the PMC and they will draft an agreement based on your draft.

note that this is a shortcut; the court should refer the case to mediation after arraignment, but there is no rule that says you can't do it before. good luck.

Hi Atty.

Good day!
First, I would like to thank you in advance for all the help (those in your website) and I know you will also give attention to my mine.
I have a friend, who was charge qualified theft, it happened when they mistakenly write in the original OR the wrong price amount of the items. The receipt was not carbonized so the tendency, they write less amount in the pink copy which is the company copy.
The auditor found out about this, and now they have subpoena this October, They attached list of inventory discrepancy worth 1M to the subpoena and 2 xerox copy of the OR's na magkaiba ang nakasulat sa original copy versus pink copy. Pero yung signature in the OR was not of that my friend's signature. But he is their immediate supervisor so my friend was the one they accused of..They are 4 in the subpoena, 3 are already AWOL, 1 still connected to the company.
Are this bailable?Can they issue warrant of arrest? They dont have money for lawyer. How can they fight?
Hope for your soon response.
Salamat!

Nov

Nangyari un kasi dinaya nila ang amount sa orig OR versus pink OR (copy ng company)Nahuli sila ng auditor nun makita may naiwan 1 orig OR ang customer at mas maliit ang nakasulat na price sa orig OR vs sa pink copy

it happened when they mistakenly write in the original OR the wrong price amount of the items.

answered on your other post, but come on, stop fudging the details.

petition for bail was denied? the court made a ruling already? it seems it has not because there is a next hearing.

after a petition for bail is filed by the accused, the prosecution is given the opportunity to show that its evidence of guilt is strong. the defense is not allowed to refute it yet. only after they present their evidence will the petition be decided upon by the court.

nevertheless, even if bail is granted, note that it will be probably be very high, like P100 thousand per defendant.

the letter is evidence, but later the accused can point out that it was made under duress and the false promise that they would be released.

i would not rely on this strategy to make it appear that the business is invalid, but it will be a good tactic to require the prosecution to establish that they were employees in the first place. if no good proof is presented, then the alleged theft should not be considered qualified, but simple theft.

i am assuming the detained persons are represented by PAO, and most PAO lawyers are very competent. I think it is best if these matters are discussed with the counsel.

Good pm Attorney, just want to give you an update to my sister's case, nag-meet po kami yesterday ng complainant to talk about our proposals and then agreed to meet again once we decided yun mga conditions. Ask ko lng po if there is other way para hindi na po makulong yun sister ko?Ang explain po kasi sa akin ng PAO, even po nagkasundo na kami ng complainant at nagbayad na kami sa harap ng fiscal and mag-file ng petition for dismissal eh need pa rin po ng arrainment. Need pa rin daw ng sister ko mag-voluntary surrender and may possibility na ikulong sya hanggang sa schedule ng arrainment.
Please help me po kung may ibang legal way para di makulong ang sister ko. Thanks po... God bless

most judges want an arraignment because it is a requirement of the procedures. i recommend that you do not pay until you are in mediation which is immediately after arraignment. that way your agreement will be under the philippine mediation center and the case can be dismissed properly.

file a motion for reduction of bail, have the prosecution note that they have no objection. whatever cash bond (not surety bond) you put up, you will get it back once the case is dismissed.

Goodpm attorney,we able to produce yun amount na hinihingi ng complainant and magbabayad na po kami. Ask ko lng po if possible na i-represent ko n lng yun sister ko kapag magbabayad and then saka n lng sya lalabas during arraignment? Worry po kasi ako na baka ipahuli p rin nila yun sister ko at need p mag-bail. P135K po yun hinihingi ng complainant at nag-agree n po kami. Pinangutang n po namin ang halagang ito and takot po ako kung sakaling hulihin nila ang sister ko at mag-bail P1.2M po iyon eh wala na po kaming ganong halagang ilalabas. Please help me po kung ano po pede naming gawin. We advise na makiusap sa fiscal kung pede i-represent ko n lng yun sister ko during bayaran and pag may affidavit of desistant n lang lalabas ang sister ko, possible po kaya iyon?
Please help me po, thanks

a very iffy situation. note that in criminal proceedings the discretion lies with the court whether it will allow anything. i recommend that you first discuss this with the prosecutor and hopefully the judge will allow a one day processing of the case where your sister appears at arraignment, the case goes directly to the Philippine Mediation Center, and same day the agreement is given to the judge for approval.

Thank you po Atty. I learned so much from you and upon reading this forum. God bless you po...

Goodam Atty.additional question po, sa arraignment po ba need ng sister ko sabihin nya na guilty sya for the sake na maayos na yun case nya? kasi para sa sister ko ayaw nya kasi di naman nya talaga ginawa pero dahil wala kaming perang pampyansa at sa tagal ng proseso ay mas pinili na lang namin magbayad na lang para makapagtrabaho siya ng maayos. please advise po and thank you po

no! she should not declare she is guilty. the settlement will become useless, and the court will have to sentence her to imprisonment.

Goodam attorney, thank so much po, please help advise po, we inform yun office ng fiscal na we prepared and willing ng magbayad this week and they told us they preparing all documents pero sinabi nila na inabot ng P75K yun babayaran namin for desistance fee dahil per receipt yun ipi-file na case, so we feel desperate co'z we don't have enough money for this kasi nga po pinangutang na namin yun pambayad sa complainant.

who will be receiving the 75k? the court or the fiscal's office?

the fiscal's office po pero kahapon nakiusap kami na kung pwede babaan nila kasi wala na talaga kaming pambayad and then binabaan nila to P10K. Sabi din po nila may problema kasi they found out na meron ding case yun sister ko sa ibang branch. Attorney, pwede po ba yun na iba-ibang branch na-ifile yun case samantalang iisa naman ang complainant?They will consolidate into one fiscal na lang para raw isa lng ang affidavit of desistance. Atty. pag may affidavit of desistance na ano po next step?Di na po ba si ate huhulihin until ma-dismiss yun case? Bale next Monday po ang schedule ng bayaran, ano po dapat kong hingin assurance na magko-cooperate yun complainant until ma-dismiss yun case kasi po nahalata ko na after lng yun complainant sa ibabayad namin. Please advise po and more power to you.

Atty. bigyan ko lng po kayo ng background don sa case ng sister ko. Lending po yun business at collector po ang sister ko. Alam ng sister ko na may kinukuha yun secretary/accountant ng company don sa collection pero di siya nagsumbong kasi kamag-anak ng may-ari yun secretary/accountant at baka di maniwala sa kanya.Nung malaman ng may-ari hiniling nilang mag-testify yun sister ko pero natakot siya ng magtago yun secretary/accountant kaya nagtago na rin sya. Walang turn-over document kapag ibinibigay ng sister ko yun collection sa secretary.Kaya isinali na rin sya sa kaso.

the solution is simple. on the document of settlement, just state that the agreement will serve as a bar to all claims of the company against her wherever the case may have been filed so that all those other complaints are included.

Thank you so much po I feel relief, Atty. paano po yun sa judge? Kasi ang sabi po sa amin since different branch nag file ng case, iba-iba rin ang judge na magdedecide. So impossible na matapos sa isang hearing lang and posible na habang hinihintay yun schedule ng ibang judge ay ikulong ang sister ko at need namin magpyansa. We feel desperate po kasi ang hirap pala mag-ayos ng kaso kapag wala kang alam. To be honest po, kumikilos po ako base sa suggestion nyo kaya very thankful po ako na may ganitong site. Atty. posible po ba na isang judge na lang ang mag decide nung dismissal? thanks so much and God speed.

when you say they are in different branches, do you mean different RTC branches all under one city? the proper remedy then is for a motion to consolidate all under one judge.

my advice is not enough. you should also go to the pao to help you out. ideally, your sister will file bail first or commit herself to the custody of the court. only then can she file a motion to consolidate the cases. she will be arraigned then the case will be referred to mediation, and that is the best place to have the settlement so that it will be binding. this whole process normally takes months.

i really don't know how to do it without having to file bail or your sister undergoing imprisonment because the court has to acquire jurisdiction over her person otherwise the cases will just be archived and the warrants still subsisting even if the complainant issues an affidavit of desistance, if the judge wants to.

i don't know if the judges will agree, but you can try to bargain with them that you enter into the settlement first at Philippine Mediation Center, and then she surrenders and has arraignment and approval of the settlement all in one day or as short a time as possible.

Thank you Atty.Mahirap po kasi sa akin mag concentrate in her case because I'm woking her in Manila while her case is in Bats. i have to continue working to support her family dahil sa ngayon po ay nagtatago pa sya and to be able to pay yun inutang namin for settlement in next 2 mos. We don't have parents to support her kasi po patay na ang father ko. Actually this case is almost 16 years ago and now lang ulit nabuksan. Nung time kasi na mangyari yun eh wala po talaga kaming kakayahan na ilaban ang kaso, nakatapos kaming magkapatid dahil nag-self supporting lang kami.
Atty. please explain nman kung tama po yun process and what will be the scenario after naming mgbayad. Sabi ng fiscal isang desistance na lng ang i-issue and we will wait yun schedule ng hearing. Yun po bang bail eh hindi baba kung nagbayad na kmi ng settlement? Kasi po definitely hindi ko na po kayang i-produce yun P1.2M, iyon po ang ikinatatakot ko.

Thank you so much po

Atty, hindi ko po pala nasagot yun tanong nyo, different RTC po

Atty. pwede po kaya na magfile ng motion for consolidation under one judge before kami magbayad ng settlement? Sorry for stupid question, just don't know what to think, i really wanted my sister to be free but i have no other means to support her. I'm losing hope....

don't lose hope. it's just a very tricky process because it is not regular. fiscal is correct that there should be be only one document of settlement and desistance. just get the desistance first; that can be used as a defense because estafa can be compromised. good luck.

Thank you Atty.I'm trying to be strong for my sister and her family esp. for my mother who gotten sick because of this case. God is so good for using people like you to help me.