Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas II on Wednesday joined six planholders of the Legacy Group of Companies in filing a case of syndicated estafa against Legacy Group owner Celso delos Angeles and 19 board members and directors of the dissolved Legacy Consolidated Plans Inc. (LCPI).

Syndicated estafa is a non-bailable crime.

A total of seven complainants, including Roxas, filed the case before the Makati City Prosecutor's Office after holding a short rally in front of Makati City Hall. They said they filed the case in Makati because their depository banks are in the city.

Roxas, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce, said he will represent the six Legacy victims namely Mrs. Jovita “Nanay Beth” Calleja, Mrs. Aurora “Nanay Au” Soriano, Mrs. Arlene Basco, Mrs. Corazon Villon, Mrs. Lolita Duria and Mr. Antonio Evangelista. The six executed a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) for Roxas to represent them in the case.

"Let us jail all those who continue to abuse the rights of our people,” Roxas told Legacy victims and members of their family who joined him in the short rally.

The six Legacy victims lost a total of P705,101.40 in premium payments because of the collapse of the Legacy pre-need companies following the exposure of De los Angeles’ financial mismanagement, wanton abuse of company funds and a convoluted financial scheme that lured thousands to invest billions of pesos in a Ponzi-type business operation.

Named as respondents in the complaint were Legacy owner De los Angeles, his wife Maria Concepcion delos Angeles, son Niccolo Martin delos Angeles, Purita delos Angeles, Victorino delos Angeles, Atty. Christine Limpin, Madeline Cobbarubias, Atty. Norman Tiongson, Bishop Ignacio Soliba, Ladho Chugani, Ricardo Solomon, Arcatomy S. Guarin, Elvira P. Garcia, Cecille Invencion, Monina Vierneza-Dio, Edgardo Marasigan, Elvira Nebre, Teresita Tica, Josefina Castaneda, Agnes Santiago.

Roxas said delos Angeles and his cohorts are liable for syndicated estafa, which the Revised Penal Code defines as the deliberate misuse of funds generated from the public committed by five or more people. He said there was clear deceit and misrepresentation by the respondents as shown by the fraudulent and deceiving financial products and promises of highly unusual and irregular returns, like the double your money scheme, with no intent to pay the policy-holders.
 
He said it had also been established during the Senate hearings into the Legacy plight that De los Angeles and his partners misappropriated the funds for the planholders, with evidence presented to the committee pointing to millions of pesos being diverted to De los Angeles’ personal benefits and other non-company related expenses, such as yacht repairs, utility and medical bills and his own campaign expenses during the 2007 elections.
 
”The respondents evidently conspired and confederated with one another to achieve a common purpose, which is to misappropriate and convert the pre-need funds for their personal benefit. The totality of the circumstances as previously narrated clearly shows that they are united in this criminal design.  The fraudulent scheme could not have been perpetrated without the knowledge and direct participation and cooperation of all the respondents who are all officers of the Legacy Group of Companies,” the complaint stated.
 
It likewise alleged that “the funds of the pre-need companies were commingled with the funds of other companies belonging to the Legacy Group of Companies” to the detriment of planholders, whose investments were used for purposes other than that for which they were invested by the policy-makers.
 
“Legacy funds, like all other pre-need funds, are held in trust on behalf of planholders. Such funds were disbursed by Celso de los Angeles with grave abuse of confidence,” it added, stressing: “The intricate and elaborate organizational structure of the companies coupled with the existence of interlocking officers and interrelated services show that the Legacy Group of Companies is a vehicle intended to illegally amass funds from the public without drawing suspicion that these funds are actually intended to be converted to personal and other uses of herein respondent Celso Delos Angeles and his cohorts.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission previously told the planholders of the three preneed firms under Legacy not to expect to be reimbursed in full. The regulator said the three firms only had about P360 million in funds tucked away in thei trust accounts when the firms unilaterally closed in January.

According to one account, the three firms had obligations to its preneed clients of as much as P7 billion. Legacy's preneed obligations are separate from the 12 rural banks' P24 billion obligation to thousands of depositors.

Investigators said Legacy's scheme included siphoning funds from preneed planholders and depositors to fund criminal transactions of delos Angeles. These transactions were aided by Legacy officers named in the estafa cases. With a report from Carmela Fonbuena, Newsbreak