- Written by Ed Velasco
- Saturday, 01 September 2012 00:00
The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) filed yesterday before the Department of Justice (DOJ) another estafa complaint against the board of directors and officials of Camp John Hay Development Corp. (CJHDevco) for allegedly “conspiring with one another to perpetuate fraud” in BCDA.
BCDA president and chief executive officer lawyer Arnel Paciano Casanova questioned CJHDevCo’s act of claiming losses, while at the same time and unknown to BCDA, was declaring dividends to its stakeholders.
“This is the second estafa charge we filed against them. Plus 52 counts of malversation which we filed two weeks ago,” Casanova told Tribune in an exclusive interview. “How can they claim losses during those years while they have been declaring dividends?” Casanova asked.
“The culture of impunity in John Hay must end. Bob Sobrepeña cannot continuously exploit government property without accounting for it and giving the country what is due to it,” Casanova, a member of core group “Kaya Natin“, emphasized to the Tribune.
The Harvard-educated BCDA official said if CJHDevCo will pay all its debts to government, the biggest benefactor is Baguio City because the summer capital is entitled to get P750 million from the money intended for BCDA.
“Baguio City is the biggest loser here. If they will just pay upfront, that money will go to their coffers, no questions asked,” he explained.
In the 39-page complaint, the BCDA charged the 1998-2000 board of directors and officials of CJHDevCo led by its chairman, Robert John Sobrepeña, with deceiving the BCDA, through false pretenses and fraudulent acts, into deferring collection of CJHDevCo’s outstanding rental obligations which has caused damage to BCDA and the government.
“CJHDevCo should be held liable for estafa under Article 315 (2) (a) of the Revised Penal Code,” the complaint read.
According to the BCDA, under the terms of the 1996 lease agreement, CJHDevCo was supposed to pay an annual rent of P425 million or five percent of gross revenues for the first five years of the lease, whichever was higher.
This meant that for the years 1998, 1999 and 2000, the government was supposed to receive P1.275 billion in rentals, according to the complaint.
The estafa charge narrated that CJHDevco misrepresented the state of its finances to BCDA and misled the government instrumentality into believing that CJHDevco was not financially capable of paying these annual rentals when, it truth, it could have very well done so.
The complaint further stated that in 1998, Sobrepeña claimed that CJHDevco’s operations were “financially adversely affected” by several factors and that its “actual losses amount to a total of P1.445 billion and were increasing daily.
CJHDevco, however, concealed the fact that it declared cash dividends totalling P928 million in the years 1998, 1999 and 2000. “The declaration of dividends is inconsistent with and belies CJHDevco’s claim that it was financially incapable of paying P1.275 billion in rentals for those same years.”
Based on the complaint, the BCDA and the government suffered damage from CJH Devco’s false pretenses and fraudulent actions. BCDA and the government were entitled to collect P1.275 billion in rentals for 1998, 1999 and 2000 under the 1996 Lease Agreement.
Instead, BCDA was deceived by CJHDevco’s false representations to accept only P125 million upon execution of the MoA dated July 14, 2000. Of this amount, only a mere P50 million was in cash. This translates into a difference of P1,150,004,134, which refers to the principal only and does not even include the interest yet.
“Clearly, records will show that CJHDevco is obviously trying to exploit government by using public property to generate revenues for themselves without paying their lease to the Philippine government,” Casanova said.
Last Aug. 15, the BCDA filed before the DOJ 52 counts of malversation against the board of directors and officials of CJHDevco and its subsidiary, Camp John Hay Hotel Corp.
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