Under Article 39 of the Labor Code, the offense of illegal recruitment in large scale, a crime deemed to involve economic sabotage, is punishable by life imprisonment and a fine of one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00). Conviction for the crime of illegal recruitment under the Labor Code does not preclude punishment under other statutes if some other crimes or felonies are committed in the process.xxiv[24] Thus, a person convicted for illegal recruitment may also be convicted for the crime of estafa. The principal reason for this is that the former offense 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 an additional element for conviction.xxv[25] The elements of estafa in general are: (1) that the accused has defrauded another by abuse of confidence or by deceit, and (2) that damage or prejudice capable of pecuniary estimation is caused to the offended party or third person.xxvi[26] These elements are present in the case at bench - (a) appellant has deceived complainants into believing that he is capable of providing them with work abroad, and (b) that, by reason of his false assurances, complainants have parted with money to their damage and prejudice that thereby can render appellant liable for estafa under paragraph 2(a), Article 315, of the Revised Penal Code. This law imposes the penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum period if the amount of the fraud is over 12,000 pesos but does not exceed 22,000 pesos. The amount involved in each of the three cases for estafa is within the above range. Under the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the maximum term of the penalty shall be that which, in view of the attending circumstances, could be properly imposed under the Revised Penal Code, and the minimum shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed for the offense.xxvii[27] There being no mitigating or aggravating circumstances, the trial court did not err in imposing the indeterminate sentence of six (6) months and one (1) day of prision correccional minimum, as minimum penalty, to six (6) years eight (8) months and one (1) day of prision mayor minimum, as maximum penalty, for each of the three (3) counts of estafa. WHEREFORE, the appealed decision of the trial court finding appellant Elvis Sanchez guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes of illegal recruitment in large scale and three counts of estafa and sentencing him accordingly, as well as ordering the payment to the complainants of actual damages, is AFFIRMED. Costs against appellant. SO ORDERED. Davide, Jr., Bellosillo, Panganiban, and Quisumbing, JJ. concur. i[1] Penned by Judge Ruben C. Ayson.