Green Cross respondents plead not guilty to estafa charge

THIRTEEN relatives of Green Cross Inc. (GCI) founder Gonzalo Co It pleaded not guilty yesterday to the charge of estafa filed against them by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the alleged illegal takeover of the corporation.

Anthony and Peter Co, and Mary Co-Cho, Co It's siblings, entered a not guilty plea during their arraignment before Judge Fortunito Madrona of the Paranaque regional trial court Branch 274 Tuesday morning. Ten other respondents, Co It's in-laws, nephews, and nieces: So Hua Co, Michael Anthony Co, Ann Marie Co-Imperial, Joanna Liza Co-Yap, Jim Lewis Co, Nessie Pearl Co Chan, Sandy Chan, Mark David Cho, and Dick Milton Cho also pleaded not guilty to five separate cases of estafa.

All 13, now out on bail, are directors and shareholders of Green Cross which manufactures rubbing alcohol and the Zonrox bleach brands, among others.

The 86-year-old Co It said none of his siblings put in any money in his single-proprietor firm. His lawyer Jun Caoile said they can now begin recovering his client's shares, which could be worth billions, from the respondents.

Ana Co-Puno, one of Co It's daughters, said they are still hoping to settle the case out of court. "All I want is justice for my father," she said.

In his complaint-affidavit, Co It said that in 1971, accused his siblings Anthony, Joseph, Mary and Ang Si, to whom he entrusted 50 percent of shares of the then Gonzalo Laboratories Inc., of transferring the shares to their children and reducing his holdings to only 25 percent, then to 17.5 percent, of the company he founded. On Dec. 15, 1986, he said he was forced to sign a deed of absolute sale on his remaining 874 shares under "moral duress."