Pacquiao Taken For a Ride

By Sam Gregory: According to The Contra Costa Times, the 27 year old wife of Manny Pacquiao’s driver, Joseph Jose, has been arrested by the Los Angeles police last Monday for stealing more than $89,000 from the Wells Fargo, Sunset Boulevard bank account of Manny Pacquiao.

Pia Anatalia Quijada pleaded “not Guilty” to the charge that she had forged Pacquiao’s signature on 32 checks and cashed them beginning January 27, 2007.

Team Pacquiao chief-of-staff, Jake Joson informed the media that according to Pacquiao, “the money he lost through the forged checks had not been returned to him by the bank neither did he know when it will be returned or whether it will be returned at all”.

Joson himself said Pacquiao ‘s driver had claimed he had separated from his wife although reliable media sources noted that the driver suddenly appeared to be wearing signature shoes, a new watch and other fancy items during the period of the alleged theft by his second wife.

News of “The systematic siphoning of funds from a $200,000 deposit made in December 2006 and which Pacquiao had apparently forgotten about broke during Pacquiao’s training for his March 15 rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez from whom he won the WBC super featherweight title via a split decision. “

When Pacquiao opened the checking account he was accompanied to the bank by Joseph Jose and his wife Quijada and used the couples Los Angeles address which resulted in checks and other bank account information being sent to the address.

Several media sources learned that that Quijada started issuing pay-to-cash checks in small amounts of $300 and gradually increased the amounts until she averaged between $11,000 to $12,000 a month. The woman also transferred some $40,000 from Pacquiao’s Sunset Boulevard account to a newly opened account in Wells Fargo, Burbank.

Pacquiao was first made aware of the situation when his financial advisor Michael Konez received a phone call from Wells Fargo vice president Vilma Rodriguez inquiring if Pacquiao remembered he still had an account with the bank.

It was later confirmed by L.A. police that Pacquiao had filed a formal complaint regarding this matter.

Manny Pacquiao’s wife Jinkee said she was “Fed up over individuals who took advantage of her husband’s kindness and generosity and propensity to forgive those who wronged him”. She told Manny she wanted Pia jailed to teach her a lesson.

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