U.S. District Court for the NMI Designated Judge David Wiseman accepted the motion filed by court-appointed attorney Mark Scoggins on behalf of defendant Ana Maria Villadiego Villegas, 42, a.k.a. Anna Marie V. Villegas or Mary Ann.
Wiseman said the jury trial will start on June 7 for Villegas and her co-defendant Armilaine Salamat, a.k.a. Armilaine Legaspi Lizama or Armie.
The court said the ends of justice will be served by allowing the defense further time to review the evidence in preparation for trial and further time to pursue plea negotiations.
The federal court earlier granted Salamat’s similar motion for a waiver of speedy trial.
Villegas and Salamat, both currently out on bail, have denied the charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and forfeiture filed by the U.S. government.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly McCallum is prosecuting the case.
The Philippine National Bank took a total loss of approximately $109,855.33 in the fraudulent scheme discovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Internal Revenue Services, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the prosecution said.
Villegas was co-owner of Philippine Express Remittance while Salamat was at the time manager of Philippine National Bank Express.
The indictment stated that the scheme to defraud began in 2004, when Villegas, then co-owner of Philippine Express Remittance, began passing checks drawn on insufficient funds to PNB Express.
Despite the eventual losses from Villegas’s worthless checks, Salamat continued to allow Villegas to transact many worthless checks at PNB Express, the indictment stated.
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