4/16/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly money to strangers without even remembering at least the month or the year when the same were supposed to have been paid. Accused-appellant further contends that if she was indeed a conspirator in the illegal recruitment transactions with complainants, she would not have filed a complaint[33] in the NBI against Domingo and Baloran. The complaint was, as already stated, dismissed and it is apparent that accused-appellant filed the complaint only to make it appear that she herself had been the victim of swindling and illegal recruitment. First, the complaint shows that it was filed on November 7, 1994, even before she was detained at the Baler Police Station 2 upon the sworn statements of complainants. Complainants were included as complainants in a complaint filed by accused-appellant. Yet, the complainants were never told, nor did they ever knew, of the complaint until the trial of these cases. Second, accused-appellant could have easily told them at least of the complaint because Felixberto Leongson, Jr., Ronald Frederizo and Elsa Cas, a relative of complainant Larry Tibor, were her immediate neighbors. Third, it is also noteworthy that despite her claim that she paid P10,000.00 to Mendoza, accused-appellant made the latter a co-complainant in the complaint she filed with the NBI. More importantly, accused-appellant's defense is uncorroborated. Not one of the persons she included in her complaint to the NBI was ever presented in her defense in these cases. Nor did she present Domingo, Baloran, or Mendoza to corroborate her statements. It is probable that had she presented any of these persons, their testimonies would have been adverse to accused-appellant.[34] Direct proof of previous agreement to commit a crime is not necessary as it may be deduced from the mode in which the offense was perpetrated, or inferred from the acts of the accused which point to a joint purpose and design.[35] In these cases, the fact is that there was conspiracy among accused-appellant, Domingo, and Baloran in recruiting complainants for employment overseas. The evidence shows that each had a role in that conspiracy. Domingo posed as a representative of the luxury liner in recruiting crew for the vessel. Baloran represented himself as the person who would actually process complainants' travel documents, while accused-appellant acted as a scout for job applicants and a collector of their payments. It was only Mendoza who did not misrepresent himself as someone capable of helping complainants go abroad nor collect money from them.[36] In sum, we are of the opinion that the trial court correctly found accused-appellant guilty of illegal recruitment in large scale. The imposition on accused-appellant of the penalty of life imprisonment and a fine of P100,000.00 is thus justified. Accused-appellant was likewise found guilty of estafa under Art. 315 (2) (a) of the Revised Penal Code committed - By means of any of the following false pretenses or fraudulent acts executed prior to or simultaneously with the commission of the fraud: (a) By using fictitious name, or falsely pretending to possess power, influence, qualifications, property, credit, agency, business or imaginary transactions, or by means of other similar deceits. https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/52128 10/14