Accused deceives victim into believing in possible employment abroad

The elements of estafa in general are: (1) that the accused defrauded another: (a) by abuse of confidence, or (b) by means of deceit; and (2) that damage or prejudice capable of pecuniary estimation is caused to the offended party or third person. All these elements are present in the instant case: the accused-appellant deceived the complainants into believing that he had the authority and capability it send them abroad for employment; that there were available jobs for them in Japan for which they would be hired; and that by reason or on the strength of such assurance, the complainants parted with their money in payment of the various processing and placement fees. As all these representations of the accused-appellant proved false, paragraph 2(a), Article 315 of the Revised Penal Code is thus applicable. [G.R. No. 120389. November 21, 1996]