532 Phil. 634
SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J.:
That sometime for on the first week of July 1995 at Balanga, Bataan, Philippines and within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, the said accused, conspiring, confederating together and mutually aiding one another, did then and there, willfully, unlawfully and feloniously defraud Clarita Ramos in the following manner, to wit: the said accused by means of false pretenses and fraudulent representations which were made to the said Clarita Ramos to the effect that they were selling a bar of gold and by means of other deceits of similar import induced and succeeded in inducing the said private offended party to give and deliver as in fact the latter gave and delivered to the said accused the sum of P500,000.00 on the strength of manifestations and representations, the said accused knowing fully well that the same were false and fraudulent and that were made only to obtain, as in fact they obtained the sum of P500,000.00 but this amount once in possession, with the intent to defraud, misapplied, misappropriated and converted the same to their own personal use or benefit, to the damage and prejudice of the said Clarita Ramos in the aforementioned amount of P500,000.00, Philippine Currency.Accused Arcadio Dumdum was never arrested and has remained at large.
In the case at bench, the record shows that the acts of accused-appellent Reynaldo Quezon were evidently aimed at achieving a common design and purpose, that is, to defraud the private complainant Clarita Ramos. Thus, he told her that he was engaged in the "bote at bakal" business (Accused-Appellant's Brief, p. 5); however, in his testimony, he introduced himself to private complainant as seller of forty (40) gold bars and a Buddha. In another time, Reynaldo said he was only a mere agent of gold bars. Thereafter, every time he would meet the private complainant, Reynaldo would persuade private complainant to buy the gold bars, notwithstanding the latter's repeated refusal to do so as she was not interested. He also assured the private complainant that the gold bars he was offering for sale were 100% genuine, for they came from Mt. Pinatubo, and that the Aetas were in a hurry looking for buyers because they badly needed money for their food. When private complainant was finally persuaded to buy the gold bars, Reynaldo, together with his daughter and Arcadio Dumdum, accompanied private complainant twice in going to Bamban, Tarlac where the gold bars were allegedly kept. When private complainant asked for the sawn gold bar and the Aetas refused, private complainant asked her companions that they better leave. Reynaldo and Dumdum convinced her to wait for little time and when private complainant asked for the sawn dust of the gold bar later, Reynaldo said that the same was thrown away by the Aetas but when private complainant persisted, Reynaldo gave her approximately 3 grams of sawn dust of gold. Reynaldo and Dumdum actively haggled with the private complainant on the purchase price of the gold bars. They initially offered to her the price of P600,000.00, but after some haggling and bargaining, they agreed at the price of P500,000.00. After the price money was handed to the Aetas who immediately left, both Reynaldo and Arcadio Dumdum ran after them to get their share.In assailing the Court of Appeals' Decision, petitioner contends that the evidence for the prosecution failed to establish conspiracy. He maintains that his participation in the transaction is not sufficient to conclude that he and Dumdum have a common design. At most, he merely acted as an agent of Dumdum not knowing that the gold bars he was selling as agent were fake.
From the chain of events above-narrated, it is evident that accused-appellant Reynaldo performed overt acts in furtherance of a common plan to commit a felony. His acts before, during and after the commission of the crime, taken together, clearly demonstrated a community of criminal design (People v. Pacificador, 376 SCRA 180). Verily, without Reynaldo's active participation and persistent persuasion for private complainant to buy the gold bars, which turned out to be counterfeit, she would not have thought of buying the same. Hence, relying also on his (mis)representations, she parted with her money and gave it to them. Once conspiracy is established, the act of one becomes the act of all regardless of the degree of individual participation (People v. Sumalpong, 284 SCRA 464). Consequently, accused- appellant Reynaldo Quezon should be meted the appropriate penalty.