Quezon grandson, Roco daughter charged with credit card fraud

MANILA, Philippines – A grandson of the late President Manuel L. Quezon and his wife, a daughter of the late Senator Raul Roco, were charged on Friday with credit card fraud at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Charged with seven counts of violating the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 were Enrique Quezon Avanceña and wife Sophia Roco.

As defined by law, access devices include credit cards and similar items that are used to get money, good, or services.

The Department of Justice recommended the filing of the charges after finding probable cause in the complaint filed by Information Gateway Inc. (IG), an information technology company.

Two IG officials – human resources manager Ma. Theresa Gonzalez and chief executive officer Eleanor Coliangco – accused the Avanceñas of using their credit cards without authorization.

The Avanceñas allegedly used the cards to make online bookings of their travels abroad in 2007, though Sophia had already resigned from the company as contracts managers and executive assistant due to ill health.

IG gave Sophia a severance pay of P74,657.84 and an additional P126,000 as personal assistance given by IG officers.

Part of Sophia's job was to make online bookings for overseas business trips of IG officers, all paid for through corporate credit cards.

The Avanceñas allegedly made the transactions in February, April, and May 2007.

According to the complaint, Equitable Card Network telephoned Gonzalez, the human resources manager, on May 7, 2007, asking her to verify bookings made six days earlier for the Avanceñas' trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai, via Cathay Pacific. The bookings cost$1,022.44.

The Avanceñas also made bookings on May 2 for flights to and from Hong Kong via Philippine Airlines and accommodations at Eaton Hotel that cost $1,406.87.

Gonzalez said the Avanceñas used her Equitable Visa card without her authority to make the bookings.

IG said it was able to cancel the May 1 transaction, but Equitable Card refused to reverse the May 2 transaction, forcing the company to settle the amount.

The Avanceñas also allegedly made bookings other bookings in 2007 – on April 29, May 6, May 7, and May 8 – using the corporate credit card of Coliangco, the chief executive officer.

The bookings were for their travels to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Macau, Madrid, and Paris.

In their joint counter-affidavit, the Avanceñas said the flights and accommodations were part of the settlement that the company itself had paid for as part of its settlement with Sophia when she resigned.

Sophia said she authorized her husband to transact with the IG to negotiate for additional separation benefits.

But in her nine-page resolution, Associate Prosecution Attorney ll, Mary Jane Sytat noted that Sophia, as contracts manager and executive assistant, had authority to access the credit cards, as Sophia herself admitted.

But then she continued to use them even after she had resigned, Sytat noted.

"Having threshed out the issue on the alleged additional settlement agreement, records will bear that probable cause exists to believe that respondents are responsible for effecting the questioned online transactions by the unauthorized access of the IG corporate credit cards," Sytat said. - GMANews.TV

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