A San Fernando City regional trial court (RTC) in Pampanga has acquitted Globe Asiatique (GA) founder Delfin S. Lee and four others in a estafa case for alleged use of "ghost borrowers" to get ₱6.6 billion housing loans from the Home Development Mutual Fund, or Pag-IBIG fund, from 2008 to 2011.

RTC Judge Joel C. Bantasan of Branch 41 granted the demurrer to evidence filed by Lee; his son and GA executive vice president Dexter L. Lee; Christina I. Sagun, GA documentation department head; Cristina C. Salagan, GA accounting and finance department head; and Alex M. Alvarez, a Pag-IBIG fund lawyer who headed its foreclosure department.

A demurrer to evidence is filed by an accused in a criminal case to seek the dismissal of the charge on the ground of alleged weakness of the prosecution’s evidence.

If the filing is allowed by the court and is granted, the grant is equivalent to the acquittal of those charged.

"The prosecution failed to establish the elements of the crime of estafa under Article 315 (2)(a) of the RPC, or any lesser offense necessarily included therein, which warrants the dismissal of this criminal action on demurrer," Judge Bantasan said in his resolution issued last Feb. 25.

Manila Bulletin was provided with a certified true copy of the RTC decision.

In 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a case for syndicated estafa against Lee and his co-accused.

The criminal charge accused Lee and his co-accused of defrauding Pag-IBIG members in housing loans used in GA's projects in Bacolor and Mabalacat towns in Pampanga, from 2008 to 2011.

The issue reached the Supreme Court. In 2018, the SC downgraded the charge to simple estafa and remanded the case for trial court proceedings.

The SC ruled that it was Pag-IBIG, not GA, that solicited funds from the public, a key element in prosecuting a syndicated estafa charge.

After review, the RTC found that there was no sufficient evidence that GA or the accused solicited public funds through illegal means or induced Pag-IBIG to release the ₱6.6 billion through fraud.

The trial court also rejected the claims of a “special buyer” scheme in GA’s Xevera projects, as it noted the existence of buyer-borrower records and the lack of proof that the company paid premiums or submitted applications for fictitious borrowers.

It pointed out that the alleged contractual breaches did not automatically amount to criminal fraud and found no sufficient proof that Alvarez committed estafa in notarizing the documents.

At the same time, the RTC cited Lee’s disclosure and monitoring of about 1,000 questionable accounts. The court described Lee’s actions as “incongruous of a deceitful man deliberately committing fraud against Pag-IBIG.”

The dispositive portion of the RTC’s resolution:

“Premises considered, the three separate demurrer to evidence dated July 17, 2025, demurrer to evidence dated July 21, 2025, demurrer to evidence dated July 19, 2025 are all granted.

“Accordingly, the case against all the accused Delfin Sy Lee, Dexter Lim Lee, Christina Iliarte Sagun, Cristina Dela Cruz Salagan, and Atty. Alex Madrina Alvarez is dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.”

The RTC also ordered the release of the cash bond posted by those acquitted.

In a statement, Lee’s lawyer Rony Garay said the grant of the demurrer bars further prosecution under the rule on double jeopardy.

He added that Globe Asiatique was engaged in legitimate real estate operations in response to the government’s call for private-sector participation in low-cost housing.