Pasay court dismisses all cases against Neri Miranda in connection with Dermacare issue
All pending complaints filed against Neri Miranda in line with the Dermacare issue have been dismissed.
Atty. Aureli Sinsuat, co-counsel for the entrepreneur, shared the update on her case with PhilSTAR L!fe on Tuesday, March 4.
Branch 112 of the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City ordered the dismissal of the syndicated estafa case against Neri "upon motion of the Office of the City Prosecutor of Pasay City, which found no probable cause to indict Miranda upon reinvestigation sought by her legal counsel."
Acting Presiding Judge Ronald August L. Tan said in the order obtained on Monday, March 3 that the private complainants "never alleged being defrauded by [Miranda]. More mind-boggling is that private complainants never asserted having personally transacted with or handed over money to [Miranda]. Therefore, the evidence presented indeed fails to establish that [Miranda] committed the crime of Estafa, moreso, Syndicated Estafa."
The other complaint that Neri was facing for violation of the Securities Regulation Code has also been dismissed, as ordered by Acting Presiding Judge Gina M. Bibat-Palamos of RTC Pasay City Branch 111.
"We thank the courts for clearing the name of Neri Miranda, who has unmistakably been falsely accused of wrongdoing in the Dermacare case," Sinsuat said in a statement sent to L!fe. "We hope that this issue will be put to rest as regards to Neri, so that instrumentalities of the law can focus on bringing the true perpetrators of the Dermacare scam to justice."
Neri's husband, musician Chito Miranda reacted to the dismissal of cases against Neri. "Mabuti nalang talaga na alam ni Lord ang buong katotohanan kaya never Nya pinabayaan si Neri," he began in an Instagram post.
"Sobrang blessed din kami dahil the people who matter knew the truth as well, and did everything they could to help and support her. We are so thankful that she was eventually given the chance to defend herself, and her side of the story," he added.
Chito described his wife as a "kind and trustworthy person," noting that "those who know her, know that."
"Ang problema lang talaga minsan ay masyado syang mabait at matulungin, kaya madalas syang naaabuso, at napapahamak," he shared. "Pero kahit ganun, sobrang proud ako because Neri would always choose to be kind and fair, no matter how mean and unfair the world is, and kahit ano ang ibato sa kanya ng mundo, her integrity, at ang kanyang mabuting pagkatao, will always be intact."
"To those who chose to stand up and defend my wife, maraming salamat talaga," he concluded.
Complaints vs Neri
The estafa and violation of the securities regulation code complaints against Neri reportedly stemmed from her endorsement urging dozens of individuals to invest hundreds of thousands of pesos in skincare company Dermacare.
Reports about Neri's arrest began with showbiz insider Ogie Diaz talking about it on the Nov. 24 episode of his YouTube channel.
On the evening of Nov. 26, the Southern Police District (SPD) wrote a Facebook post announcing that a manhunt operation, led by the Pasay City Police in coordination with the Warrant and Subpoena Section, resulted in the arrest of a 41-year-old actress and businesswoman. They said the woman, who was initially identified as "Neri" at 7:33 p.m. but was changed to "Erin" at 8:06 p.m., was arrested at a basement convention center in Pasay City on Nov. 23 at 2:50 p.m. According to them, she's listed as Rank No. 7, or the seventh most wanted person, for November 2024.
In an ABS-CBN News report, authorities confirmed that a certain "Nerizza Miranda" was transferred to Pasay City Jail's female dormitory at around 12:02 p.m. on the day of her arrest. (Neri was born Nerizza Garcia Naig, and tied the knot with Parokya ni Edgar frontman Chito Miranda in December 2014.)
Chito wrote an Instagram post for her on Nov. 27, asserting that his wife didn't swindle anybody and that she's so helpful to other people, even if it can be harmful to her and her kindness gets abused at times. Chito explained that she's an endorser whose face was used to attract investors, but victims sued her.
Neri has yet to comment on the issue as of writing.
