Bilyonaryo Victor Consunji was quick to distance himself from his publicist, Lana Faith Johnson, following her arrest for estafa last week, claiming he was clueless that she was siphoning off his company’s funds.
The son of property giant Isidro Consunji said his working relationship with Johnson started small, with Johnson associating herself with Consunji’s friends and business partners.
Lips are sealed: Vic Consunji PR Lana Johnson finally gets out of jail
“For many years, it was minimal stuff like the occasional article. She would also bring over ‘her friends’ to show them around the project and try to sell a unit in the hopes of getting a commission,” Consunji told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
In 2021, Johnson took on more roles by promoting projects of his company, Victor Consunji Development Corp. (VCDC).
Johnson also managed to penetrate Consunji’s social circles, counting his ex-wife Maggie Wilson and Manila Bulletin columnist Philip Cu-Unjieng as her “friends.”
Wrapped around her finger: Vic Consunji’s behind PR Lana Johnson’s entrapment after allegedly purloining at P30M of his company’s funds
Wilson has revealed that she tried to warn him about Johnson’s dirt but had been ignored. The VCDC boss even gave her more duties in the company.
“With more responsibilities came access to bigger budgets. She was helping with the launch of one of our new projects. She mismanaged and miscalculated and here we are,” Consunji added.
Caught in the act! Vic Consunji’s self-styled celebrity publicist Lana Faith Johnson arrested for theft
The scam finally unraveled when a friend of Consunji told him that Johnson owed P200,000 to them but did not get paid, triggering other “victims” to come forward.
Among those who complained is a company owner tapped to do the interiors of a VCDC project.
Told you so! Maggie Wilson vindicated after Vic Consunji’s associate caught red handed
“It was alarming because she was issued unfunded checks by Lana in relation to the VCDC project. These budgets have been dispensed earlier this year. It’s literally been done, dusted, closed for a while,” Consunji added. “ What she would do is intentionally drive them away so that they would not talk to each other about these matters. She would make up some fake excuses, like ‘Victor is stressed’ or ‘so-and-so is having marital problems’.”
“It feels like a giant Ponzi scheme – she would get money that was earmarked for a project to pay off some supplier she owes and get money from a different client to pay off that person,” he said.
His company likewise discovered that Johnson had been issuing fake transaction receipts using her supposed PR company had already closed down.
This triggered Consunji to take action through VCDC to sue her for theft and estafa.
