Businessman Cedric Lee, model Deniece Cornejo, and two other defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Taguig court in the serious illegal detention for ransom case brought against them by actor – host Vhong Navarro in 2014.

Taguig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 153 declared Lee, Cornejo, Ferdinand Guerrero, and Simeon Raaz guilty beyond reasonable doubt in a ruling released on Thursday, May 2, 2024.

“WHEREFORE, premises considered, this court hereby finds acused DENIECE MILLINETTE CORNEJO, CEDRIC LEE, FERDINAND GUERRERO and SIMEON PALMA RAAZ, GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt for the crime of SERIOUS ILLEGAL DETENTION FOR RANSOM, defined and punished under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended; and hereby sentences them to RECLUSION PERPETUA,” according to the Decision signed by Presiding Judge Mariam Bien.

Reclusion perpetua is equivalent to 40 years imprisonment.

Atty. Alma Mallonga, representing Navarro, stated that the court ordered Cornejo to be immediately committed to prison. Lee, however, was not present during the promulgation and the court has ordered for his arrest.

Arrest warrants were issued for Lee and Guerrero. The court ordered Raz and Cornejo, who attended the promulgation, to be committed immediately. In addition, P100,000 in exemplary damages, P100,000 in moral damages, and P100,000 in civil indemnity were mandated to be paid by the guilty parties to Navarro.

Navarro accused Lee of detaining him on the night of January 22, 2014, in a condominium unit in Taguig City. Navarro claimed to have been mauled by Lee, Guerrero, and Raz after accusing him of raping Cornejo.

Navarro asserted that Lee and others threatened to kill him and demanded P2 million in exchange for his freedom, to which the actor-host agreed to pay P1 million.

Model Deniece Cornejo, charged along with Lee, alleged that Navarro attempted to rape her that night. Lee used this rape claim as justification to maul Navarro and force him to confess to raping Cornejo at a police station that same evening.

The CCTV footage revealed that Cornejo entered the elevator from her condo unit approximately a minute after Navarro exited the elevator to go to her unit. Navarro’s lawyers argued that the timeframe was too short for Navarro to have committed the alleged rape.

In February 2023, the Supreme Court dismissed Cornejo’s rape and lasciviousness claims against Navarro.

📷 Vhong Navarro FB, Deniece Cornejo FB, Cedric Lee FB