The Court of Appeals has cleared 88 individuals of estafa and money laundering charges filed by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. for allegedly amassing P97.73 million in deposit insurance claims using falsified documents.
In a 16-page decision, the CA’s Sixteenth Division through Associate Justice Edwin Sorongon granted the petition filed by Manu Gidwani, one of the accused in the case, who sought to nullify a June 3, 2016 resolution issued by then Acting Justice Secretary Emmanuel Caparas.
Caparas’ order reversed and set aside the earlier resolutions by the Department of Justice-Task Force on Financial Fraud which dismissed the criminal charges against Gidwani, his wife Champa, and 86 other persons.
The CA ruled that Caparas committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of or in excess of jurisdiction when he reversed and set aside the earlier resolutions of the DoJ-TFFF as well as a resolution of Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano dismissing PDIC’s petition for review.
“There is nothing new in the evidence revisited, reviewed and reassessed by Secretary Caparas from those initially studied and examined by the investigating panel who have the opportunity to sift first hand these evidence,” the appellate court stressed.
“Considering that the fact finding panel of the DoJ found no prima facie case against the petitioner, a fact affirmed by the DoJ secretary through Undersecretary Justiano, great restraint should have been exercised by Secretary Caparas in reversing the findings of the investigating panel and Undersecretary Justiniano,” the CA added.
The appellate court pointed out that what Caparas reexamined were the same pieces of evidence evaluated by the investigating panel during the preliminary investigation.
“There were no new evidence presented in the motion for reconsideration of PDIC that would compel Secretary Caparas to rule otherwise,” the appellate court said.
“In overturning the said findings and recommendations of the DoJ-TFFF, he acted in an arbitrary and despotic manner by reason of passion or personal hostility,” it added.