Lloyd Samartino's ma charged with estafa

The mother of actor Lloyd Samartino, a son-in-law of former President Fidel Ramos, is facing estafa charges after issuing bouncing checks worth P310,000. Carmen Soriano, a singer and actress during her earlier years, issued the checks in February this year as debt payment to Irma Alonzo and Sherwin Tañedo, the complainants in the case. Radio station dzBB said Alonzo and Tañedo were prompted to file charges before the Parañaque City prosecutor's office after Soriano allegedly failed to return their calls and reply to their text messages. The bank that was suppoosed to clear the checks said Soriano did not have enough funds and as such, it will not honor the transactions. Samartino is the estranged husband of Josephine "Jo" Ramos, daughter of former President Fidel Ramos. Jo and Lloyd have a teenage son, Sergio. In an April 2007 interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal, Samartino relates how much he wanted to regain showbiz success and that he and Jo remain "very good friends." The dzBB report quoted the complainants as saying that in May 2004, Soriano allegedly started borrowing money from them to pay for her "expenses" and "pleasures." The complainants added that they always had a hard time collecting payment from Soriano as she usually is the one who gets mad first. Syndicated estafa is a non-bailable offense that carries a penalty of life imprisonment under Presidential Decree 1689. Simple estafa under Batas Pambansa 22, or the bouncing checks law, is a bailable offense punishable by a jail term of 30 days to one year for each count and indemnity of the amount swindled. - GMANews.TV