Former Calayan VP denies embezzlement accusations

LOS ANGELES—Attorney Mariano Alvarez, legal counsel to Adelaida “Aida” Arceo, former vice president and office manager of Calayan Aesthetics Clinic in the US, who was accused of bilking the Filipino star doctor of more than $450,000, said that his client is innocent and has filed a demurrer to dismiss the case in the courts.

Alvarez added that his client is extremely hurt by her former employer’s allegations and “very distressed” since it was made public more than a week ago.

“I told her not to be distressed,” said Alvarez to the Asian Journal. “She’s receiving a bad reputation. She’s alleged to have taken money from the Calayans. She’s personally hurt. We thought we were going to solve this through mediation. But now, instead of settling this case, it’s been blown out of proportion.”

Last week, renowned cosmetic surgeon couple in the Philippines, Manny and Rosario Calayan, filed a civil suit seeking $2.5 million in damages against Arceo claiming she misappropriated or embezzled more than $450,000 in funds.

According to the court documents, the “sums are based on monies and items wrongfully taken by Arceo from plaintiffs (the Calayans)…including the monies for the sale of the La Cienega clinic ($170,000); the $200,000 loaned to Beverly Hills Center; the $30,000 which Arceo misrepresented was owned to her for expenses in selling the La Cienega clinic,” and others.

The complaint was filed in April 2011, and though Calayan stayed silent for the most part about the case, he eventually decided last week to make the allegations public through a press conference to the Fil-Am media.

Arceo’s attorney Alvarez said his client did not have access to Calayan’s account, nor did she have signing authority over checks.

“As corporate officers, (the Calayans) are responsible for safeguarding the corporate funds,” he said adding that Mr. and Mrs. Calayan are the sole signatory when writing checks for their business. “They are the parties that are responsible for any embezzlement or loss of funds.

“The reason why they reserve signing authority to themselves is because they want exclusive control of their corporate funds.”

Alvarez said his client has done nothing wrong. He said she was very disappointed when the Calayans had a press conference about this case, when she was prepared to settle the matter quietly.

Alvarez added that now, they will wait to see if the court grants the dismissal of the case.