Arrest warrants issued for top LBC executives by DJ Yap of Phil. Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines. March 15, 2010. A court has ordered the arrest of eight top officials of the LBC group of companies on the strength of an estafa complaint filed by a pre-need firm that accused LBC of failing to remit payments made by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

The Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court issued warrants for the arrest of LBC directors and officers Juan Carlos G. Araneta, Carlos R. Araneta, Javier C. Montecon, Joseph Jeffrey B. Rodriguez, Marilyn R. Aben, Theresa F. Rañeses, Eliza G. Berenguer and Marilou B. Olan.

The arrest warrants were issued on March 2. Except for Berenguer, Rodriguez and Rañeses, all of the accused have posted bail of P40,000 each, court records showed.

The court said it found “probable cause necessitating [the] issuance of warrants of arrest against all accused” based on the evidence presented by the prosecution, including the case information.

The complaint was filed by The Professional Group (TPG), which said that LBC failed, despite repeated demands, to remit P68.1 million in pre-need premium collections to the financially troubled firm under a partnership the two companies formed in 1999.

Under the deal, LBC’s overseas branches would act as collection agents for OFW clients, especially US-based Filipinos, who wanted to pay for their pre-need accounts.

“As it appears, LBC is supposed to remit to TPG the collections they made from the plan holders of TPG. But they failed. Even after a demand to remit was made upon them, the demand remained unheeded, prompting private complainant to file this case,” the court said. – ?

(LBC’s “Hari ng Padala” is active in Sydney. It maintains its office and warehouse in Glendenning, NSW. It has recently opened a remittance service that charges a very minimal rate of only $3.00.

It’s local manager Eric Marquez has just left the company which is now being managed from Melbourne.)