KAPA MASTERMINDS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR SYNDICATED ESTAFA

A BUTUAN City court has sentenced the masterminds of Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc. (KAPA) to life in jail after finding them guilty of operating an investment scam, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reported.

Branch 33 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Butuan City found Kapa leaders Joel Apolinario, Cristobal R. Baradad, and Joji A. Jusay guilty beyond reasonable doubt of eight counts of syndicated estafa, as defined and penalized under Article 315 (2) of the Revised Penal Code, in relation to Presidential Decree No. 1689.

Apolinario, also referred to as Pastor Joel, was the founder and president of KAPA, while Baradad and Jusay were among its incorporators. All three were sentenced to suffer the penalty of life imprisonment, and ordered to pay to complainants eight actual damages amounting to P195,000.

The RTC found all elements of estafa present in the case, given that there was false pretense or misrepresentation made by Apolinario and the other accused when they claimed to be authorized to engage in a profit-making venture or business. 

The case was actively prosecuted by Assistant City Prosecutor Claudine L. Calo and City Prosecutor Aljay O. Go.

“Clearly, Apolinario together with Baradad and Jusay, employed fraud or deceit by falsely pretending or misrepresenting that they are authorized by the SEC to engage in profit-making business when in truth and in fact, they are not authorized to do so being a non-stock corporation,” the court said.

“The accused promised investors a 30 percent monthly interest for life on their investments. Relying on this false pretense, the complainants were duped to invest their money. As a result, they suffered damage since nothing was returned from their investments,” it added.

The court affirmed the finding of the SEC that the solicitation activities of KAPA were akin to a Ponzi scheme.

“The Court takes credence on the testimony of the witness from SEC, who testified that the means employed by KAPA is akin to a Ponzi scheme,” read the decision.

The decision comes around six years after the SEC found KAPA to have enticed the public to invest P10,000 in the guise of a donation, in exchange for a 30 percent monthly return for life dubbed as a “blessing.”