Case Digest (G.R. No. 171121)
Facts:
Gina Diaz y Jaud v. People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 171121, August 26, 2008, Supreme Court Third Division, Chico‑Nazario, J., writing for the Court. Petitioner Gina Diaz y Jaud was criminally charged by information filed on 14 August 2002 in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 117 (Criminal Case No. 02‑1840), with estafa under paragraph 1(b), Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code for allegedly receiving in trust P265,900.00 from private complainant Erwina Sanuele‑Orallo on 13 May 2002 and converting the same to her personal use. Petitioner was arrested on 22 October 2002 and released on bail of P40,000.00; she pleaded not guilty at arraignment and invoked the defense of denial during pre‑trial.At trial the prosecution offered the private complainant as its principal witness and introduced a notarized document captioned “Certification” (Exhibit A) showing that petitioner received P265,900.00 “in trust” and agreed to return it upon demand. Complainant testified that she lent smaller sums to petitioner in 2001 which were repaid, and that the P265,900.00 was entrusted to petitioner because of their friendship so the latter could loan it out to third parties and remit collections to complainant; complainant demanded payment on 30 May 2002 and petitioner failed to account or appear at barangay conciliation.
Petitioner testified that the relationship was a money‑lending business in which she acted as agent/collector for complainant, that an earlier P100,000.00 loan (2001) plus interest resulted in an obligation alleged as P264,000.00 of which she had paid P209,000.00, and that Exhibits 1–14 were receipts showing payments. She admitted signing the “Certification” but maintained the money was used in the lending business and not misappropriated as complainant asserted. On rebuttal complainant clarified the receipts covered prior transactions and did not include the P265,900.00 transaction of May 2002.
On 11 December 2003 the RTC convicted petitioner of estafa under Article 315(1)(b) and sentenced her to an indeterminate penalty and ordered indemnity of P265,900.00. The C...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals gravely err in affirming petitioner’s conviction for estafa under paragraph 1(b), Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code?
- Was the penalty imposed by the RTC (and affirmed by the Court of Appeals) proper, including the minimum term of the inde...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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