Ricardo Cepeda's stepson says actor 'wrongly accused' of syndicated estafa following arrest
"Innocent" was how model Joshua de Sequera described his stepfather, Ricardo Cepada, after the actor was arrested on Saturday, Oct. 7, for syndicated estafa.
Cepada, whose real name is Richard Cesar Go, was taken into custody by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) in a resto-bar in Maypajo at 11 a.m. that day.
Police presented a warrant for a charge of syndicated estafa under Article 314 of the Revised Penal Code, which was issued by Sanchez Mira, Cagayan's Regional Trial Court Branch 12 Judge Gemma Bucayu-Madrid.
Cepada did not resist his arrest and was brought to the headquarters of QCPD in Camp Karingal for documentation before he was detained.
The following day, on Oct. 8, de Sequerra took to social media to defend his stepfather, saying that he was just the brand ambassador of the sales company its investors charged for estafa.
de Sequerra shared the mug shots of his stepfather and began his caption, "Please spread the word. My Father Richard CEpeda Go was wrongfully accused. He was simply the product endorser of a sales company. They used the title BRAND AMBASSADOR (which many companies use).
The model went on to explain that Cepada "had no knowledge nor participation" in the company's investment scheme wherein it offers a big monthly profit to investors "with advanced payouts in monthly postdated checks."
"Eventually, the checks started bounding so the investors filed estafa cases against everyone who they thought was part of the company, including Ricardo—who was just the celebrity model," de Sequerra continued.
He added that Cepada's lawyer "can easily prove his innocence" with a copy of the company's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) business registration certificate stating that it is "a sole proprietorship and his name is not there."
"Also, his name appears nowhere on any of the said investment MOAs (Memorandum of Agreements) and post-dated checks." de Sequerra added.
He lamented that his stepfather is "stuck in detainment even though he's innocent" as Cepada is still requesting for bail and waiting for court hearing.
"I have seen a lot of hateful comments about this. IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, KEEP YOUR COMMENTS TO YOURSELF," the model concluded his post.
According to the Department of Justice, syndicated estafa involves five or more persons who group together with the intention of carrying out unlawful transaction or scheme which results in the misappropriation of money contributed by stockholders.
If proven guilty, individuals charged with syndicated estafa will be penalized with life imprisonment to death regardless of the value of the damage caused.