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Owner of defunct remittance center pleads not guilty, again
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Posted on Jun 19 2012
By Ferdie de la Torre
Reporter
Reporter
The owner of a defunct remittance center has pleaded not guilty to a second superseding indictment filed against her in connection with the alleged conspiracy to defraud a Philippine bank in the amount of $109,585.33.
Ana Maria V. Villegas pleaded not guilty to the new indictment or replacement indictment charging her with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and two counts of wire fraud.
Attorney Mark Scoggins appeared as counsel for Villegas at the arraignment on Friday.
U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona set the jury trial for Aug. 27, 2012 at 9am.
Manglona set the hearing on pretrial motions for Aug. 6, 2012.
It was the third time that Villegas pleaded not guilty in this case because of the government’s replacement of the indictment.
The second superseding indictment named Villegas as the only defendant in the case.
The new indictment was filed in court last June 7 or a few days after Judge Manglona dismissed the case against Villegas’ husband, Haydn Villegas.
Manglona dismissed without prejudice the indictment against Haydn Villegas after the U.S. government and Haydn Villegas both agreed to dismiss the indictment.
Dismissal without prejudice means the plaintiff is allowed to re-file a new suit on the same claim in the future.
Assistant U.S. attorney Rami S. Badawy informed the court that the reason for the motion to dismiss is that issues have arisen that call into question whether the government can prove its case against Haydn Villegas, beyond a reasonable doubt.
Haydn Villegas, through counsel Timothy H. Bellas, earlier stated that neither him nor his wife were aware that co-defendant Armilaine Salamat was falsifying their company’s books.
Salamat used to work as manager of PNB Express, which was then a subsidiary of Philippine National Bank.
In June 2010, Salamat pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. She is currently awaiting her sentencing.
