Ana Maria Villadiego Villegas and Haydn L. Villegas will be tried together by jury, Designated Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood said in her consolidation order.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, earlier filed a motion for a joint trial.
The defendants and their court-appointed counsels did not object.
“The court…finds the motion well-taken,” the judge said.
The consolidated indictment now refers to the Villegases as defendants.
The couple co-owned Philippine Express Remittance which had ties with PNB Foreign Exchange.
A co-defendant, Armilaine Salamat, has admitted participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and will testify in the jury trial of Mrs. Villegas.
The couple have been released on bail and pleaded not guilty to the accusation that they conspired with each other in passing checks with insufficient funds at PNB Express, starting in 2004, resulting in losses to PNB of over $109,000.
