Legacy owner arrested in hospital

MANILA, Philippines – Police operatives on Monday arrested Celso de los Angeles Jr., owner of the collapsed Legacy Group, in connection with the syndicated estafa charges filed against him, a police spokesman said. The warrant of arrest was served to De los Angeles at 4:15 p.m. at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, said Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) spokesman Felix Vargas. A team from the CIDG has been deployed to secure the cancer-stricken businessman. Vargas said they allowed De los Angeles to stay at St. Luke's for his 20-day chemotherapy sessions. "Probably when he's already done with his chemotherapy we'll be bringing him back to RTC Cagayan de Oro," Vargas told GMANews.TV in a phone interview. The Cagayan de Oro Regional Trial Court branch 17 under Judge Florencia Abu issued the warrant of arrest for De los Angeles after prosecutors found probable cause to charge him for syndicated estafa. No bail has been recommended for De los Angeles, who is also mayor of Sto. Domingo town in Albay province. The embattled Legacy Group owner is facing a wave of charges for allegedly siphoning off millions of pesos from plan holders and depositors of Legacy’s collapsed pre-need firms and rural banks. The Legacy Group’s shuttered pre-need firms have P1.1 billion worth of unpaid obligations to about 50,000 plan holders. Last year, 13 of Legacy Group’s rural banks were closed and were placed under receivership or liquidation. The Bangko Sentral said these banks have “insufficient assets to cover their liabilities, suffer from severe liquidity problems, and perform unsafe and unsound banking practices." De los Angeles had repeatedly denied orchestrating fraudulent schemes that allegedly led to his company’s collapse. - GMANews.TV