Kris Aquino. Image: Instagram/@krisaquino
MANILA, Philippines — The Taguig City Prosecutor has found probable cause to charge Kris Aquino’s former project manager Nicko Falcis with estafa, her lawyers said on Tuesday.
“The Taguig City Prosecutor issued a Resolution finding probable cause to charge Nicko Falcis with the crimes of Estafa through Misappropriation and Conversion and violation of Access Device Regulation Act,” the press statement of Aquino’s legal team Divina Law read, as posted in her Instagram account.
“The Taguig OCP (Office of the City Prosecutor) found the statements of Ms Kris Aquino as credible and the evidence she adduced as sufficient to establish a prima facie case that Nicko Falcis misappropriated and converted the corporate credit card entrusted to him for his own personal expenses,” it added.
Falcis quickly retorted by saying that the Taguig prosecutor of seemed to “lawyering for Kris Aquino” by recommending the filing of estafa when it was not part of the complaint of the actress.
In her Instagram post, Aquino showed the official court notice sent to her house as well as the header of the documents indicating that it came from the Taguig OCP.
“I need to point out, sa tamang paraan ang pag post nito- as you can see in my video, we received REGISTERED MAIL here at home today. Hindi po isang entertainment portal ang unang naglabas ng balita,” Aquino wrote in the caption.
Meanwhile, the same resolution dismissed the qualified theft complaint filed by Aquino against Falcis.
“The Office of the City Prosecutor of Taguig issued a Resolution (1) DISMISSING the complaint of Kris Aquino for QUALIFIED THEFT, (2) finding probable cause for Estafa, and (3) finding probable cause for violation of R.A. 8484 or the Access Device Regulation Act of 1998,” Falcis’ statement read, as posted by his brother Jesus Falcis via Instagram on Tuesday.
Falcis said that the Taguig prosecutors “correctly dismissed the complaint of Kris Aquino.”
“They had no choice otherwise they would appear grossly ignorant of the law for there was clearly no taking of property,” he added.
However, Falcis said Taguig OCP’s “finding of probable cause for estafa and violation of R.A. 8484 [Access Device Regulation Act] smacks not just of gross ignorance of the law but of the manifest BIAS and grave abuse of discretion of the prosecutors.”
Falcis described the decision as “absurd and ridiculous when compared to the logic and findings of the Office of the City Prosecutors of Makati and Pasig.”
“The Taguig prosecutors seem to be lawyering for Kris Aquino when they found probable cause for estafa, a charge which was nowhere to be found in the complaint of Kris Aquino! Such decision violates my right to due process, where I have to be informed of the charges filed against me and given the opportunity to respond to the charges,” Falcis added.
Aquino filed criminal complaints against Falcis before the prosecutors of Mandaluyong, San Juan, Taguig, Pasig, Makati, Manila and Quezon City for allegedly using funds from her company, Kris Cojuangco Aquino Productions (KCAP), for his personal expenses.
READ: Kris Aquino files case vs ex-project manager
The prosecutors in Makati and Pasig earlier dismissed the complaints filed by Aquino against Falcis last month for “lack of evidence.” /cbb
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