Opening up the economy

THERE is an interesting case brewing at Fujifilm Philippines as its president Ryo Nagaoka, along with other executives of the company — Evan Reyes, Anil Jacob John, John Paul Camarillo, Dihesh Mehra, Atul Agrawal and Erik Koh — face estafa charges filed on Oct. 13, 2022, which is now pending with the Regional Trial Court of Pasig.

According to news reports, the case stems from a complaint filed by Sunfu (Solutions Inc.) with the Pasig prosecutor's office accusing the Fujifilm officers of "criminal fraud and deceit by issuing a First Tier Distributor Certificate dated Jan. 6, 2022 which authorized Sunfu to distribute Fujifilm medical equipment for the OFW Hospital and Diagnostic Center in Pampanga. Sunfu, relying on the said certificate, was made to believe it had the full support of Fujifilm that it would back up its bid only to learn subsequently that the certificate was a sham since the latter had no intention from the start to honor its feigned commitment. Sunfu claimed that Fujifilm deliberately misrepresented that the First Tier Certificate was exclusive, as this is the industry practice and this had been the previous transactions between the two companies."