Syndicated estafa Case filed at NBI

I have filed a syndicated estafa case against a couple who deceit us by her non existing investment scheme at NBI Manila, last month but the investigation is very slow until now nothing has been done on my complaints.
My question is,Can i file a case directly to RTC in our Province even if i have a filed complain at NBI, the reason why i ask this question is because, the couple who deceit us could go out of of the country and time is very important to us to resolve the problem immediately.

please help.

You cannot file it directly with the RTC but you can go to the Provincial Prosecutors Office of the place where the crime was committed. The prosecutor will be the one to file the case in court after evaluating your pieces of evidence.

As i see it from your narration however, your case might be plain estafa and not syndicated estafa.

Syndicated estafa is committed when a samahang nayon, farmers cooperative, or other associations of the same kind whose funds are the contributions from the members or the public in general are defrauded of said funds by the officers or members. The definition may not be so exact but couple you are referring to are not the funds being protected by the law.

There are great differences between a sydicated estafa and a plain estafa
1. Synd estafa is punished by a special law while simple estafa is punished by the revised penal code of the Phil.;
2. the funds defrauded in synd estafa are from many people but not necessarily so in plain estafa.
3. the bail required as well as the penalty imposable in each case differ. mas mabigat ang syndicated estafa.

Syndicated estafa does not necessarily mean that the perpetrators of the crime are members of a syndicate. Estafa committed by a syndicate is different.

Hello po!may nagdala po ng subpoena sa bahay at pinagrereport ako sa nbi for syndicated estafa..sinai po kasi ako ng friend ko sa lending business nilang bayaw nya na foreigner..binigyan nila ako ng pera na dapat mapautang ko sa ina ng 10 % at ung 2 % ay ibibigay nila sakin as commission..compounded int po ito..nagkaron po ako ng problem sa mga napautang at s angayun po wala naman nagbabayad..nakabigay po ako ng int sa knila na 150k at ngayun na wla ako maibigay pinadalhan po nila ako ng subpoena under sa anti human traficking div ng nbi..ano po ba ang dapat kong gawin..thank u

This is to clarify that it is not only me who filed a syndicated estafa case against the couple and thier Company at NBI, there were also some people who already filed a case in our province, in fact we are 5 persons filed a case at NBI office and the victim of this fraud may be less than thousand people in our province and the amount looted by this two couples using Company that is not registered in SEC is nearly one billion pesos,This two couple could escape outside the country any time by now and they failed to returned the money to all investor because their ponzi scam collapsed.
Now i called DOJ office in Manila asking if it is possible to filed a case in our province while the investigation by NBI is going on. and thier answer is NO. i cannot file same case in our province while NBI investigation is going on.PLEASE CLARIFY THIS if Really possible to file a case in our province while NBI investigation is going on?
The only reason while we filed a complaints in NBI is to expedite the investigation because in court it will take to much time and this couple have the chance to escape outside the country.We do not know what we are going to do now, this two couple have no departure order yet because the court cannot issue any non departure order because the investigation is on preliminary stage, i need advice in this regard. thanks.

THARRIE: I said "you can go to the Provincial Prosecutors Office of the place where the crime was committed.". That means a case can be filed against them in the province if the crime was committed there or at least any of its elements occured at that province. If your case was almost similar with the people who were able to file their case at the province, why would you not be allowed? You should be allowed. The reason maybe why you were told that you cannot file at the province is because the documents are still with them (NBI) but they are not saying that ultimately, you cannot file a case of your own.

As to the designation of the case, Syndicated Estafa is punishable under P.D. 1689. The said law pertains to misappropriation of moneys contributed by stockholders or members of rural banks or cooperatives or of funds solicited by corporations/associations from the general public.” The couple do not classify as corporation or association and although you are part of the general public, you did not contribute money as stockholders or members of a rural bank, cooperative, or samahang nayon. Our discussion here however should be the concern or the accused and not so much of your problem. Kung hindi alam ng abogado nya ang purpose ng PD 1689, he might not raise this matter for the benefit of his clients, bahala sila. Di na problema ng mga complainants yun. Meron kaming kasong ganyan. Cell card scam. The accused had to appeal to the regional state prosecutor bako sila paniwalaan na simple estafa langang kaso.

Here's my advice: You have the right to withdraw the documents you submitted at the NBI and file the case at the place where the crime was committed. However, it is better for you to just let the NBI do the work and concetrate on your remaining businesses instead. (This is better so you wont be stressed by so much worrying and adding suffering to what you have been through already.)

As for your fear that the couple might run away, there is a simpler solution. Just tell the other complainants whose cases are already pending in court at the province that the accused might be able to abscond if no HDO is issued against them. In this way, eh di yung ibang complainants na lang ang bahalang magrequest ng HDO sa kanilang kaso. Sila ang mgtatrabaho at mamumrublema pero pareho rin ang kauuwian pag naigrant yung motion nila for HDO - hindi pa rin makakaalis yung akusado kahit walang HDO sa mismong kaso mo. Got the point? I hope i am helping you. God bless.

ABUNNIEM: Your defense will be like that of the respondents in tharie's case so as to reduce the bail that will be set by the court if it reaches the court.

Your ultimate defense will revolve however on whether or not you are a mere agent in the money-lending business and as agent, you just need time to render and accounting (bale hihingi ka nang panahon para magbigay ng tamang listahan kung saan pumunta ang pera nila. na hindi sa bulsa mo napunta ang pera bagkus nandun sa mga pinautangan mo gaya ng bilin ng mga complainant. (Your counsel howover might be able to find other solutions as he will be in a better position to assess the situation.

God bless.

Sir rchrd,
I would like to ask if our case can be considered a syndicated estafa. A "big time" car dealer (Mr. X) issued unfunded checks to many people (smaller car dealers) in exchange of vehicles Mr X took. One check for every vehicle. Some received 1 check for 1 vehicle, 2 checks for 2 vehicles and other 5 checks for 5 vehicles. Amount of each check ranged from 300,000 to 600,000. There were maybe around 10-15 people victimized.

Currently, there is already 2 existing warrants, 1 count estafa and the other 3 counts of estafa, totalling to 4 estafa case. Is it true that if the number of estafa (with warrant) reaches 7 counts, the accused is not allowed to bail already and will be detained?

Thanks and more power...

cars => syndicated estafa on Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:15 pm

Sorry i missed your question. Just found about it now.

The plain cases of estafa are correct. The number of cases filed or number of victims are not the determining factors. What matters so that Estafa will be considered Syndicated is the misappropriated funds were contributed by the stockholders or members of the "rural banks, cooperatives, 'samahang nayon (s)', and farmers' associations or corporations/associations operating on funds solicited from the general public"
and that the acts "erode the confidence of the public in the banking and cooperative system"