Mood:  blue

I attended a preliminary investigation last Dec 6 in behalf of my mom. The charge stemmed from an unfunded check my late brother (and his wife)issued. Without my mom's knowledge, he had used a blank company check pre-signed by her (for emergency purposes) to secure a loan. In fact, the complainant herself narrates that it was my brothers assistant who approached her to borrow money and it was her who received the money as well. That in exhange for the loan the assistant agreed to an interest of 5% a month. It appears that she believed it was the assistants own personal check she was receiving and she (complainant) did not scrutinize the check. Had she did, she would have found it peculiar that it was a company check signed by a different person. I guess she was to eager to think of the interest she was going to get. She only learned who the signatory of the check was when it bounced.

When I got home, I had to rush to another court. Unfortunately, another case was filed by another person whom my brother also got a loan from. I had to secure copies of the complaint which I had to take the lawyer. This was a far more serious complaint since it has been forwarded for investigation. The lawyer had to file a response for fear that a warrant may be issued for my mom. This complainant alleges that it was my mom who personally secured from him a loan sometime January 2007 at a mall. He was lyong through his teeth. My mom (and us) did not even know who he was. The first time we saw and talked to him was during my brothers wake. He has resorted to lying just to make his complaint stick. It was my late brother who got loans from him since early 2006 using my mothers pre-signed blank company checks. He happily obliged the loans for he was earning exhorbitant interest from my brother as high as 10 % per month. I guess that as long as he received his interest, he did not find it peculiar that the checks he received was not signed by my brother.

Now that what my brother has done has been uncovered, they are desperate to pin the blame on my mom. The lies have started and it breaks my spirit to see the the physical and emotional toll that it is taking on her. Sometimes I feel so angry that I want to take things in my own hands. What's worst is that some people, with their own personal gain in mind, see that we are desperate for money want to bleed us dry even more. Christmas is far from our mind. I just pray we survive.