Kris Aquino admitted she was wrong to blame her former business partner Nicko Falcis for her several conditions as she revealed a possible settlement with the case she filed against him.
Aquino filed 44 counts of qualified theft against Falcis last November 2018.
Falcis was the person whom Aquino had been referring to as the cause of her financial woes on social media.
Aquino explained on Instagram how she erred in blaming Falcis for her health condition and then disclosed the P40 million worth of investments involved in their conflict.
“To end, I was wrong to cast blame on my former business manager for my condition,” she started.
“Allow me to clarify the financial issue, I asked for an accounting of P40 million invested for my sons, and financial reports for our 12 Potato Corner + Nacho Bimby branches and my lawyers and I were ignored,” she added.
The Potato Corner venture was one of the two businesses where Falcis allegedly stole money from.
She also revealed that the lawyer of Falcis’ mentor, whom she did not name, reached out to her lawyer to settle the case once and for all. She cited how fortunate Falcis was for his mentor’s initiative.
“I believe this was out of his own volition, and my respect for that man’s integrity grew even more. Hindi niya kadugo pero tinaya nya ang reputasyon niya,” she said.
In 2018, Aquino lodged separate complaints of qualified theft against Falcis in Makati, Manila, Quezon City, Pasig, Taguig, Mandaluyong and San Juan.
She accused him of exploiting P1.2 million through a credit card she issued for the operations of her production outfit Kris Cojuangco Aquino Productions or KCAP.
Falcis’ younger brother who’s also a lawyer reportedly came to his defense and countered Aquino’s statements on his social media accounts.
Aquino immediately clapped back and shared screenshots of text messages showing an apparent conversation between her lawyer and Falcis’ lawyer. She charged him with nine counts of cyber libel days later.
On Falcis’ side
Falcis also made several accusations against Aquino in his lengthy rant on Facebook.
He also described her as “a powerful brat/oligarch/bully forcing us into her narrative, even wanting my mom and sister to profusely apologize to her in public.”
“The cases she filed against me are but a part of her scheme to coerce me into involuntarily submitting to her will and complying with her unreasonable demands, including that I and members of my family execute the documents she intended for our signatures,” he said.
In another statement sent to Philippine Entertainment Portal, he narrated how he worked hard to build her digital and social media career in 18 months.
However, he has not been paid approximately P9 million worth of commission for it.
He then recalled a phone conversation with Aquino when he was still in Thailand. She purportedly threatened to kill him should he return to the Philippines.
“She has shown me her ability to put those connections to use. She also threatened me about being able to control the sentiments of more than 100 million Filipinos—how she can easily destroy me, same as what she did to the previous men in her life. And I believe her,” he said.
How the relationship turned sour
Aquino and Falcis, who earned a degree in business at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, met in 2015 to open several branches of Potato Corner + Nacho Bimby.
Falcis recounted in an interview with ABS-CBN that Aquino initially gave him the task to handle the operations of KCAP. He was allowed to have his own team, his own special power of attorney and his own bank account.
From thereon, both parties were grateful of each other’s work. The TV personality even described him as her “Northern star.”
It was in August 2018 when things went south. Falcis said that Aquino suddenly got angry for the release of her photos from the “Crazy Rich Asians” movie, where she made a cameo.
In September, she began sharing stories online that a former business partner, who turned out to be Falcis, had been causing her financial troubles.
Last January 5, 2019, she appealed to him on Facebook live to personally face his charges.
She also revealed here that she’s battling a type of lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease.