A Cebu City judge on Thursday convicted a former branch manager of an insurance company for allegedly defrauding his employer of over P383,000 cash seven years ago.
Rannie Batucan was meted the penalty of up to 18 years and four months in jail after he was found guilty of estafa.
He was also ordered to indemnify FLT Prime Insurance Corporation in the amount of P383,906.25 with interest at 12 percent per annum until fully paid.
In his ruling, Judge Alexander Acosta of the Regional Trial Court Branch 9 cited the failure of the accused to answer the accusations leveled against him.
“The failure of accused Batucan to account upon demand of the funds held in trust is evidence of misappropriation by the accused. This was not disputed by the defense,” the judge said.
Batucan was supposed to deliver the amount as payment by First Agro Industrial Rural Bank to FLT Prime Insurance Corporation on April 25, 2008.
However, once in possession of the amount, he allegedly misappropriated the money entrusted for his own personal use and benefit.
Batucan, who was appointed as Cebu branch manager of FLT Prime Insurance in 2006, had the duty to issue an insurance policy to the branch’s clients and to collect their premium payments.
On August 18, 2008, FLT’s vice president for finance reviewed Batucan’s daily collections.
When she discovered some irregularities, FLT’s vice president confronted Batucan who reportedly confessed to have misused some of the money he collected.
Batucan was never presented in court. His lawyer repeatedly asked the judge to reset the hearings several times.
Despite the number of times that they were given the chance to present their evidence, the defense still failed, prompting Judge Acosta to decide on the case.
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