Felicitas Sy Recto/FS Customs/Felicitas Recto Realty: Information on Customs Broker and Real Estate Broker Felicitas Sy Recto, engaged in widespread Philippines Real Estate Fraud.
Background behind the Allegation: Beginning in February of 2012, we (the “buyers”) entered into a real estate transaction with Felicitas Sy Recto (a.k.a “Fe” Recto, “Baby” Recto) to purchase a property she owns in Better Living Subdivision in the City of Paranaque, at a price negotiated of Php 4,400,000. We would later learn that her intent was only to secure a “good faith’ deposit of Php 100,000 pesos, which she would not agree to return unless pressured through legal channels to do so. Mrs. Recto accepted the deposit predicated on a sale of the property as well as the written terms of there being a bank guarantee, something she would later refute despite her own signature.
After much time spent in negotiation between the parties — during which she changed her decisions several times without explanation on the reasons — the deal was never consummated. In fact, it was never her intent to consummate the deal, substantiated by the following details.
1. Despite her denial that she demanded an all cash deal for her property, Felicitas Sy Recto clearly signed an agreement to accept a deposit to clear the property for purchase based on a 20% down payment and a bank guarantee for the remaining balance. In fact, Felicitas Sy Recto met the buyers at the banking institution where she saw a copy of the Bank Guarantee in front of a loan officer and stated, “I believe that you have the Bank Guarantee”.
2. Despite her prior agreement to accept a Certified Check for a portion of the funds, paid in US dollars to the tune of 40:1 exchange rate, she refused the same check when it was presented, citing, “If the check was in Canadian Dollars, I’d be happy to accept it.”
3. She requested a copy of the bank guarantees from the bank. When those guarantees were made available to her to complete the transaction, she never made her presence to the bank to accept them and gave no further explanation for her refusal (I have e-mails and copies of Cell Phone texts to help prove the conversations). In fact, and for reasons known only to her, she never signed the Deed of Absolute Sale despite the buyer’s requirements being fully met.
4. To facilitate the transaction, she used three (3) third parties acting as “brokers” even though she is a licensed real estate broker herself. As for the other parties, none of them are licensed despite representing themselves as such.
5. Despite the written terms of the good faith deposit stating that a failure of either party to fulfill their obligations in the transaction would result in a return of the deposit, Felicitas Sy Recto disagreed with her own agreement.
From her actions and subsequent threats to my family, it became increasingly clear that Felicitas Sy Recto had a motive to defraud anyone making an offer on her property, and has potentially done so to others as well as possibly planning to do so in the future. I did not pursue the matter fully through the legal system in the Philippines as I’d rather focus our resources and energies on purchasing a property than sinking money into court cases or the ever-so-corrupt Philippine legal system or questionable advocates/attorneys. I have very little faith in the Philippine legal system to render a verdict in favor of a Philippine citizen married to an American citizen when a well-connected Filipina is involved and better able to legally maneuver the system locally while we sit 9,000 miles away.
Further Details: The property in question that was for sale is located at 29 Shanghai Street, Better Living Subdivision, Paranaque, Metro Manila, Philippines. The property was originally listed at Php 4.5 million, accepted as an offer for sale at 4.4 million. Felicitas Sy Recto, a Philippine National, is allegedly a real estate broker and a customs broker (FS Brokerage), though calls to her listed work phone number do not seem to route. Her husband, Jaime R. Recto, a Philippine national, allegedly operates a trucking company, Jaime Recto Trucking. Calls to the listed phone number reveal a non-working number for the company. |
