Note: This story has been updated to reflect a subsequent dismissal of the complaint.
Eric Scott Allison, a 44-year-old American executive, was arrested without warrant in an entrapment operation by CDIG and the PNP on Dec 27.
He was at a restaurant in Taguig when police picked him up following an illegal recruitment and estafa complaint filed by starlet Avi Siwa, 35.
Siwa told police that she was “enticed, recruited and promised an overseas job in Dubai” by Allison last year, when she approached him after seeing his Facebook post about job openings in BGC for an American firm.
But Allison alleges that “this was merely an attempt from Avi to get me dismiss the case for estafa.” (In 2015, Allison filed an estafa case against Siwa for allegedly conning him into purchasing fake gold bars. A hearing is scheduled on Feb 24.)
“I’m a new mom and I needed to work for my baby…I wanted to consult his expertise as a recruiter expert,” Siwa explained to Coconuts Manila when we asked why she contacted him despite their ongoing battle.
But Allison denies the allegations. “I am not an international recruiter. I do mergers and acquisitions and help corporations raise capital. My clients and business contacts can confirm. I’m well known and my actions can be verified without dispute,” he explained to us via e-mail.
He stressed that Exigo Ventures, his company, is not a recruitment firm. While MD Staffer, another company where he is a director, “only staffs American doctors in the States. We do zero immigration.”
He says he was “detained and released without having to post bail. The Department of Justice sent me home as they will investigate Avi Siwa’s claims. Keep in mind she is the only one to complaint (sic),” he said.
Based on police records Siwa shared with Coconuts Manila and which we verified with PNP in Camp Crame, the startlet claims to have paid an initiation fee of PHP10,000 when she met Allison at a coffee shop in SM Megamall. On the day of the sting arrest, she was to hand over another PHP150,000 for placement fee.
But Allison alleges that records she presented to the police were fake.
“There was never an arrest warrant. I was held only for investigation until I could go before the fiscal at DOJ. She then signed a resolution to send me home so they could investigate the claims of Avi. She had given them several emails and message that she claims can from me. But we have hired an intelligence group from NBI who will verify the emails and URL to prove the emails never came from me. All her documents are fabricated. If you could see the 30 texts from Avi to me in the past 15 days it tells the entire story. She is really out of touch with reality,” he said.
Allison also denied receiving money from Siwa, saying he only agreed to meet with her because “she asked pity as she was a single mom and wanted to settle the estafa case.” He added: “I file[d] estafa 11 months ago. Why would I then recruit her? Who pays the person that has filed a case of estafa then ask for a job?”
A preliminary investigation has been set for this case on Jan 18.
This story has been updated with additional quotes from Eric Allison.
Update: Avi Siwa’s complaints for illegal recruitment and estafa against Eric Allison have been dismissed by the Department of Justice for lack of probable cause. The seven page decision was signed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Ma. Cristina A. Montera-Barot. The resolution was released on May 30, 2016. Coconuts Manila was furnished a copy of that decision on April 18, 2017.
