NBI re-arrests fake lawyer offering 'non-appearance' annulments

The National Bureau of Investigation arrested a fake lawyer who allegedly offered couples “non-appearance annulments” for P500,000 to P700,000.

“Binigyan naman sila ng court decision ng annulment. Kaso nung i-verify nila sa [Philippine Statistics Authority], lumalabas na fake ang binigay na dokumento sa kanila kasi hindi ito nagre-reflect doon sa records ng PSA,” said NBI Batangas chief Attorney  Christopher Hernandez in  John Consulta's Saturday 24 Oras Weekend report.

(The victims were given a court decision of the  annulment, but when they verified it with the PSA, it appears that the  given documents were fake because it wasn’t reflected in the PSA  records.)

He added that the suspect had previously been arrested for the same charges.

“Naaresto na siya last March involving the same violation, the same modus ng CIDG Cavite-Dasmariñas. Pending pa yung kaso pero ngayon dirediretso pa rin siya. Siguro nagpiyansa,” added Hernandez.

(The suspect had been arrested last March for the same violation, the same modus, by the CIDG Cavite-Dasmariñas. The case is still pending but she’s still at it. I guess she posted bail.)

NBI Batangas confirmed that the suspect was not in the Supreme Court’s roll of attorneys.

There were currently 12 complainants filed charges against the suspect, including estafa in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act.

Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Batangas Chapter issued a statement on the incident.

“The IBP Batangas Chapter encourages the public to be vigilant against sham court processes advertised on social media and done by non-lawyers or unauthorized persons,” read the statement. — Jiselle Anne Casucian/DVM, GMA Integrated News