Estafa charges filed in 2020 by a group of Nueva Vizcaya farmers against one of their provincial councilors have been dismissed by the courts for lack of merit.
The complainants accused provincial board member Roland Carub of complicity in a financial mess involving a rural cooperative.
Records of the case showed that sometime in 2020, the complaining farmer-members of the Timpuyog Ti Babbalasang Idi Kalman (TIBIK), lodged their complaints against Carub at the provincial prosecutor’s office in Villaverde town, claiming the respondent stole funds from their organization.
Carub who was reputedly known for helping farmers in the province, reportedly even assisted in the organizational efforts of TIBIK.
He allegedly encouraged the farmers to secure loans from pertinent government agencies, proceeds of which were initially received by the borrowers.
Carub told the farmers that the loans could only be secured through a cooperative bank, for which purpose he referred them to the Cebu People’s Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Cebu Coop) as a channel.
However, some TIBIK farmers claimed that Carub and other officers of the Cebu Coop Solano branch were embezzling funds from their organization in the guise of membership fees, paving the way for them to secure loans from government lending agencies which allegedly never materialized.
The estafa cases were filed by farmers at the Municipal Trial Courts of Ambaguio and Villaverde, but were similarly dismissed by Acting Presiding Judges Herson Valmores and Gregorio Agapito Nuestro.
Valmores ruled that the complainants failed to substantiate their accusations, prompting him to acquit the councilor.
Carub was reelected for his third and final term as a board member of Nueva Vizcaya in the May 9, 2022 polls. Stephanie Caesar