The federal court has dismissed the case against the owner of a defunct remittance center who was charged with conspiracy to defraud a Philippine bank.<\/p>\n
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed without prejudice the indictment against Haydn Villegas.<\/p>\n
Manglona issued the order last week after the U.S. government and Villegas both agreed to dismiss the indictment.<\/p>\n
Dismissal without prejudice means the plaintiff is allowed to re-file a new suit on the same claim in the future.<\/p>\n
Assistant U.S. attorney Rami S. Badawy told the court that issues have arisen that call into question whether the government can prove its case against Villegas beyond reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n
Badawy said Villegas and his counsel, Timothy H. Bellas, agreed with this motion to dismiss the case.<\/p>\n
Villegas, through counsel Timothy H. Bellas, earlier stated that neither he nor his wife, Ana Maria V. Villegas, were aware that co-defendant Armilaine Salamat was falsifying their company\u2019s books.<\/p>\n
Ms. Villegas did not request Salamat to do so, nor did she request Salamat to illegally wire the money, said Bellas.<\/p>\n
Salamat used to serve as manager of PNB Express, which was then a subsidiary of Philippine National Bank. <\/p>\n
In June 2010, Salamat pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. She is currently awaiting her sentencing. <\/p>\n
Mr. Villegas was the co-owner of the defunct Philippine Express Remittance who allegedly defrauded the Philippine National Bank of about $109,855. The Villegas couple pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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