Actress Kris Aquno announced on her social media accounts yesterday that her former business associate Nicko Falcis has been charged with estafa and credit card fraud by a Taguig City prosecutor.
And in true Kris Aquino fashion, she even posted a video announcement about it.
The Taguig City Fiscal is charging Nicko Falcis in court with Estafa and Credit Card Fraud. 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. pic.twitter.com/PL8iqGnwq5
— Kris Aquino (@krisaquino214) March 12, 2019
The post, which appeared on Kris’ Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts, even used dramatic background music as it flashed photos of Kris’ lawyer’s statement and of the Taguig prosecutor’s resolution.
The video ended with an oft-repeated quote (and meme) from Lady Gaga, who said: “There can be 100 people in a room and 99 of them don’t believe in you but all it takes is one.”
Sniff.
According to ABS-CBN News, the resolution was from Taguig’s Assistant State Prosecutor Claire Eufracia Pagayanan who has decided that she will indict Falcis with estafa under Art. 315 par. 1(B) of the Revised Penal Code, which penalizes the misappropriation of money or goods.
Falcis was also charged with allegedly violating section 9(J) of Republic Act No. 8484 or the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 which penalizes the fraudulent use of credit cards.
And yet, the same resolution from Pagayanan dismissed the qualified theft case that Kris filed against Falcis, saying that “there was no personal property which was taken either from Aquino or the (sic) KCAP.”
The whole drama involving Kris and Falcis started in November when she accused him of supposedly using the credit card of Kris’ company KCAP for his personal expenses, amounting to PHP1.27 million (US$19,721).
They have been engaged in a bitter social media feud ever since. It reached its most dramatic point when Falcis accused Kris of threatening to kill him if he goes back to the Philippines from Bangkok.
The alleged crime led Kris to file multiple counts of qualified theft against Falcis in Mandaluyong, San Juan, Taguig, Pasig, Makati, Manila and Quezon City, cities where the theft allegedly occurred. Kris is accusing Falcis of allegedly making unauthorized purchases in Taguig last year which amounted to PHP63,000 (US$1,194).
However, Falcis denied her accusations and said that all purchases were made in connection with client meetings for KCAP.
Falcis scored a win against Kris when the charges filed against him were dismissed in Makati and Pasig last month.
As expected, his camp slammed the decision of the prosecutor. In a statement which Falcis posted on his Instagram account today, his lawyer Regidor Ponferrada said that his client was mistakenly charged with estafa and credit card fraud.
Ponferrada also said that estafa was not even charged against Falcis during the preliminary investigation conducted by Taguig’s prosecution office and that that they will file a motion for reconsideration before the Department of Justice.
In his Instagram caption, Falcis wrote that the prosecutor did not even explain why he was being charged with the crimes. He also alleged that Pagayanan was biased because she was appointed by Kris’ older brother, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as a prosecutor in 2016.
The daughter of the late President Corazon Aquino with national hero Ninoy Aquino, Kris is an influential television show host and actress in the Philippines. She recently appeared in a cameo in the film Crazy Rich Asians.
At present, she’s very active on social media, where she often posts live videos that serve as virtual press conferences where she discusses her life and the various issues she gets embroiled in.
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