ENRILE LAUDS ROXAS MOVE TO FILE SYNDICATED ESTAFA CASE
VS LEGACY GROUP

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile lauded yesterday the strong action taken by Sen. Mar Roxas in filing a syndicated estafa case against the officers and employees of Legacy Consolidated Plans, Inc., Scholarship Plan Phils., Inc. and All Asia Plans Corporation.

"As chair of the Senate Committee on Trade and Industry, Senator Roxas' role has been instrumental in unearthing the facts behind the grand scheme of the Legacy group to victimize thousands of plan-holders who were deceived into buying and subscribing to the 'pre-need' services of the Legacy group," Senate President Enrile said.

"The nature of the Senate investigation was in aid of legislation and, through the relentless efforts of Senator Roxas, we have established the urgent need to review the Securities Regulation Code, among other laws, particularly with respect to the mandate of the Securities and Exchange Commission in regulating and monitoring the capital market."

"What is important also is that the people who were victimized were able to seek valuable legal assistance and are now able to file a complaint against the officials of the Legacy group who were directly involved and who clearly had a hand in devising this grand, fraudulent scheme."

In the Joint Complaint-Affidavit filed by Sen. Roxas for and in behalf of six (6) of the thousands of victims of the legacy group, at least 20 officials of the pre-need company, led by Celso G. Delos Angeles, were cited for having "conspired and confederated with one another in committing the crime of syndicated estafa, as defined and penalized under Presidential Decree No. 1689 in relation to Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code."

"How these Legacy officials could have taken advantage of the innocent trust of the plan holders who were enticed to invest their life savings in various plans to secure their personal retirement as well as their children's education through Legacy's services was unthinkable. Mahihirap na tao ang kanilang pinagsamantalahan para lamang sa kagustuhan nitong mga opisyales ng Legacy group na magpakasasa sa pera o yaman na hindi naman kanila."

"There is sufficient evidence to pin down Delos Angeles and his cohorts as the culprit. They should be made accountable. It is about time we send these people to jail."

Recently, Senate President Enrile also filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 945 calling for "the immediate resignation of the officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission for not exercising their mandate to protect the public from predatory and unscrupulous practices of individuals and companies especially in the pre-need industry such as the Legacy Consolidated Plan causing the loss of millions of pesos in investments of thousands of plan-holders who were victimized by these companies".