4/13/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly Penal Code. The offense of illegal recruitment is malum prohibitum where the criminal intent of the accused is not necessary for conviction, while estafa is malum in se where the criminal intent of the accused is crucial for conviction. Conviction for offenses under the Labor Code does not bar conviction for offenses punishable by other laws. Conversely, conviction for estafa under par. 2 (a) of Art. 315 of the Revised Penal Code does not bar a conviction for illegal recruitment under the Labor Code. It follows that one's acquittal of the crime of estafa will not necessarily result in his acquittal of the crime of illegal recruitment in large scale, and vice versa.[54] In the same manner, a conviction for Illegal Recruitment does not automatically result to a conviction for Estafa. The prosecution must still prove the elements of the offense. Moreover, in Estafa through deceit or false pretenses, the fraud must have been executed prior to or simultaneous with the commission of the fraud. In this case, Rios and her agency had the qualifications and capacity to deploy workers abroad. The offense she committed was in her failure to reimburse the documentation and processing expenses incurred by the applicants when they were not deployed without their fault. Unfortunately for accused Rios, the acquittal for Estafa has no bearing on her sentence as the penalty for Large Scale Illegal Recruitment under Section 7(b) is Life Imprisonment. WHEREFORE, the Decision dated April 23, 2015 of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. CRHC No. 06023 is AFFIRMED WITH MODIFICATION. The Court RESOLVES to: 1. DECLARE accused-appellant ISABEL RIOS y CATAGBUI guilty of LARGE SCALE ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT as defined under Section 6(m) in relation to Section 7(b) of Republic Act No. 8042 for which she is sentenced to suffer LIFE IMPRISONMENT and to pay a FINE of P500,000.00. 2. ORDER Isabel Rios y Catagbui to REIMBURSE the following complainants the respective amounts, subject to legal interest of six percent (6%) per annum from finality of judgment until full payment: Eduardo Milanes P95,000.00 Rico Dacillo P95,000.00 Liwayway Tiglao P80,000.00 Michael Custodio P140,000.00 Marlone Papio P145,000.00 3. ACQUIT Isabel Rios y Catagbui in the Estafa cases, particularly in CC No. R-PSY0900779-CR, CC No. R-PSY-0900780-CR, CC No. R-PSY-0900781-CR, CC No. RPSY-0900782-CR, CC No. R-PSY-0900783-CR, CC No. R-PSY-0900784-CR, CC No. R-PSY-0900785-CR and CC No. R-PSY-0900786-CR. The penalties in relation to the Estafa cases are DELETED. SO ORDERED. Peralta, C.J. (Chairperson), Lazaro-Javier, and Lopez, JJ., concur. Reyes, J., Jr., J., on official leave. https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66232 23/29