Sunday, April 24, 2016

HEIRS OF FE TAN UY v. INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK G.R. No. 166283, February 13, 2013

HEIRS OF FE TAN UY v. INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE BANK
G.R. No. 166283, February 13, 2013
Corporation Law Case Digest by John Paul C. Ladiao (15 March 2016)
(Topic: Right to bring action, acquire and possess property --- relate with Art. 46 of NCC)

FACTS:

On several occasions, from June 23, 1997 to September 3, 1997, respondent International Exchange Bank (iBank), granted loans to Hammer Garments Corporation (Hammer), covered by promissory notes and deeds of assignment.

As of October 28, 1997, Hammer had an outstanding obligation of P25,420,177.62 to iBank.8 Hammer defaulted in the payment of its loans, prompting iBank to foreclose on Goldkey’s third-party Real Estate
Mortgage. The mortgaged properties were sold for P 12 million during the foreclosure sale, leaving an unpaid balance of P 13,420,177.62.9 For failure of Hammer to pay the deficiency, iBank filed a Complaint10 for sum of money on December 16, 1997 against Hammer, Chua, Uy, and Goldkey
before the Regional Trial Court, Makati City (RTC).

Despite service of summons, Chua and Hammer did not file their respective answers and were declared in default. In her separate answer, Uy claimed that she was not liable to iBank because she never executed a surety agreement in favor of iBank. Goldkey, on the other hand, also denies liability, averring that it acted only as a third-party mortgagor and that it was a corporation separate and distinct from Hammer.

Aggrieved, the heirs of Uy and Goldkey (petitioners) elevated the case to the CA. On August 16, 2004, it promulgated its decision affirming the findings of the RTC. The CA found that iBank was not negligent in
evaluating the financial stability of Hammer. According to the appellate court, iBank was induced to grant the loan because petitioners, with intent to defraud the bank, submitted a falsified Financial Report for 1996 which incorrectly declared the assets and cashflow of Hammer.16 Because petitioners acted maliciously and in bad faith and used the corporate fiction to defraud iBank, they should be treated as one and the same as Hammer.

Hence, these petitions filed separately by the heirs of Uy and Goldkey. On February 9, 2005, this Court ordered the consolidation of the two cases.

ISSUE:

Whether or not there is guilt by association in those cases where the veil of corporate fiction may be pierced?

HELD:

Yes.

While it is true that the determination of the existence of any of the circumstances that would warrant the piercing of the veil of corporate fiction is a question of fact which cannot be the subject of a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45, this Court can take cognizance of factual issues if the findings of the lower court are not supported by the evidence on record or are based on a misapprehension of facts.

In this case, petitioners are correct to argue that it was not alleged, much less proven, that Uy committed an act as an officer of Hammer that would permit the piercing of the corporate veil. A reading of the complaint reveals that with regard to Uy, iBank did not demand that she be held liable
for the obligations of Hammer because she was a corporate officer who committed bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of her duties such that the lifting of the corporate mask would be merited. What the complaint simply stated is that she, together with her errant husband Chua,
acted as surety of Hammer, as evidenced by her signature on the Surety Agreement which was later found by the RTC to have been forged.

Considering that the only basis for holding Uy liable for the payment of the loan was proven to be a falsified document, there was no sufficient justification for the RTC to have ruled that Uy should be held jointly and severally liable to iBank for the unpaid loan of Hammer. Neither did the CA explain its affirmation of the RTC’s ruling against Uy. The Court cannot give credence to the simplistic declaration of the RTC that liability would attach directly to Uy for the sole reason that she was an officer and
stockholder of Hammer.

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