Complainants in Globe Asiatique case getting threats - Binay

The homeowners in Pampanga who had filed syndicated estafa charges against developer Globe Asiatique (GA) have been receiving threats and are being harrassed by unknown individuals, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Tuesday. Binay, who is also chair of the Pag-IBIG board of trustees, said he has ordered the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) to provide security for the complainants who are residents of GA's Xevera Homes in Mabalacat, Pampanga. He said that he will also ask assistance from the municipality of Mabalacat to ensure the safety of the homeowners. "Sana wala namang takutan. Sinasabi ko sa inyo, pag nahuli namin kayo, kasama kayo sa mga ihahabla namin (I hope that you will stop with these threats. If we catch you, we will also file cases against you in court)," Binay said in a statement released Tuesday. He likewise appealed to other "double sale victims" not to accept any settlement offers from GA and instead join the Pag-IBIG Fund in filing cases against the developer. “Tulad ng Pag-IBIG Fund, kayo ay mga biktima ng pandaraya ng Globe Asiatique. Marapat lamang na papanagutin natin ang mga may sala (Just like Pag-IBIG Fund, you are victims of GA. We should make them pay)," he told the victims. GA's president Delfin Lee was earlier slapped with two syndicated estafa charges for supposedly duping buyers into buying properties from Globe Asiatique which were already sold to other Pag-IBIG borrowers. Lee and 16 others were also slapped with another syndicated estafa case for allegedly taking out at least P6.6 billion in Pag-IBIG Funds for questionable housing development projects in Pampanga. Clarificatory hearings at the Department of Justice have revealed that a "modified Ponzi" scheme was supposedly used by GA to siphon off money from Pag-IBIG. Pag-IBIG president and chief executive officer Darlene Marie Berberabe explained that a Ponzi scheme is "a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors." — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News