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769 Phil. 526
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 205153, September 09, 2015 ]
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. SUZETTE
ARNAIZ A.K.A. "BABY ROSAL", ACCUSED-APPELLANT.
DECISION
VILLARAMA, JR., J.:
On appeal is the June 25, 2012 Decision[1] of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CR.H.C. No. 04762 affirming the conviction of appellant Suzette Arnaiz a.k.a. "Baby Rosal"
for illegal recruitment in large scale and two counts of estafa.
Facts
In Criminal Case No. 02-199399, appellant Suzette Arnaiz, Ruel P. Garcia and Chita
Lorenzo were charged with the crime of illegal recruitment committed in large scale and
by a syndicate. In Criminal Case No. 02-199404, appellant and her two co-accused
were charged with estafa. In Criminal Case No. 02-199406, appellant and her two coaccused were also charged with estafa.
Appellant pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. Trial on the merits ensued.
Prosecution witness Edenelda Cayetano testified that she learned that appellant was
recruiting workers for Australia. On December 16, 1999, Cayetano gave appellant
P30,000 for the processing of her papers. She gave another P40,000 on January 19,
2000, P30,000 on February 4, 2000, and $500 on March 8, 2000. However, she was not
able to leave for Australia. She then confronted appellant, who tried to refund the
amount by issuing a check for P175,000. Unfortunately, Cayetano was not able to
recover her money since the account was already closed.[2]
Witness Napoleon Bunuan testified that in June 2000, he went to appellant's travel
agency, Florida Travel and Tours located in Manila after learning that it was recruiting
factory workers for South Korea. On June 6, 2000, Bunuan gave appellant P45,000
believing that he will be deployed soon. On June 19, 2000, he gave appellant another
P25,000 for which he was issued a receipt, even though he had no employment
contract. Bunuan again paid P20,000 but this time he was not given a receipt. After
paying a total of P90,000, Bunuan discovered that appellant sent 26 persons to Korea
but all were sent back to the Philippines. He went to appellant's office only to find out
that it was already padlocked.[3]
Another witness, Flerminio Cantor, Jr., testified that he went to appellant's office
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