ORIEL MAGNO v. CA, GR No.

96132, 1992-06-26
Facts:
Petitioner was in the process of putting up a car repair shop sometime in April 1983, but he
did not have complete equipment... he lacked funds with which... to purchase the necessary
equipment to make such business operational. Thus, petitioner, representing Ultra Sources
International Corporation, approached Corazon Teng, (private complainant) Vice President
of Mancor Industries (hereinafter referred to as Mancor) for his needed... car repair service
equipment of which Mancor was a distributor. (Rollo, pp. 40-41)
(Corazon Teng) referred Magno to LS Finance and Management Corporation (LS Finance
for brevity) advising its Vice-President, Joey
Gomez, that Mancor was willing and able to supply the pieces of equipment needed if LS
Finance could accommodate petitioner and provide him credit facilities.
on condition that petitioner has to put up a warranty deposit equivalent to thirty per centum
(30%) of the total value of the pieces of equipment to be purchased, amounting to
P29,790.00.
unknown to petitioner, it was Corazon Teng who advanced the deposit in question, on
condition that the same would be paid as... a short term loan at 3% interest.
petitioner and LS Finance entered into a leasing agreement
After the documentation was completed, the equipment... were delivered to petitioner who
in turn issued a postdated check and gave it to Joey Gomez who, unknown to the petitioner,
delivered the same to Corazon Teng.

Magno vs. CA (Crim1)

Oriel Magno, petitioner, vs. Honorable Court of Appeals and People of the Philippines, respondents.

June 26, 1992

Paras, J:

Facts:
 Oriel Magno, lacking fund in acquiring complete set of equipment to make his car repair shop
operational, approached Corazon Teng, Vice President of Mancor Industries.
 VP Teng referred Magno to LS Finance and Management Corporation, advising its Vice
President, Joey Gomez, that Mancor was willing to supply the pieces of equipment needed if LS Finance
could accommodate Magno and and provide him credit facilities.
 The arrangement went on requiring Magno to pay 30% of the total amount of the equipment as
warranty deposit but Magno couldn't afford to pay so he requested VP Gomez to look for third party who
could lend him that amount.
 Without Magno's knowledge, Corazon was the one who provided that amount.
 As payment to the equipment, Magno issued six checks, two of them were cleared and the rest
had no sufficient fund.
 Because of the unsuccessful venture, Magno failed to pay LS Finance which then pulled out the
equipment.
 Magno was charged of violation of BP Blg. 2 (The Bouncing Checks Law) and found guilty.
Issue:
 Whether or not Magno should be punished for the issuance of the checks in question.
Held:
 No
Ratio: 
 To charge Magno for the refund of a warranty deposit which he did not withdraw as it was not his
own account, it having remained with LS Finance, is to even make him pay an unjust debt since he did
not receive the amount in question. All the while, said amount was in the safekeeping of the financing
company which is managed by the officials and employees of LS Finance.