NBI files complaint vs Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee

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Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee, and 6 others face charges of serious illegal detention, serious physical injuries, and grave threats, among others

SPEAKING UP. Deniece Cornejo and Cedric Lee are asserting that Vhong Navarro did attempt to rape Cornejo. Screengrab from ABS-CBN interview

MANILA, Philippines – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, January 28, filed a complaint before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against Deniece Cornejo, Cedric Lee, and 6 others involved in the alleged extortion and mauling of commedian Vhong Navarro.

Eight individuals are accused of serious illegal detention, serious physical injuries, grave threats, grave coercion, unlawful arrest, and threatening to publish and offer to prevent such publication for a compensation.

Also included in the complaint were Bernice Lee, Ferdinand Guerrero, Zimmer Rance, a certain alias “Mike” and two more unidentified suspects.

Serious illegal detention is a non-bailable offense. DOJ prosecutors will look into the merits of the complaint and see if it can be filed in court.

The complaint came 3 days after it was reported that Navarro would miss several episodes of the ABS-CBN noontime show “It’s Showtime” because of injuries from an attack that happened on January 22.

Conficting versions 

The story has since taken a life of its own.

On January 26, a report showed a police blotter that indicated a complaint against Navarro for the “alleged violation of the crime of attempted rape.” Cornejo, the complainant in the police blotter, alleged Navarro forced himself on her the night he visited her condominium. According to Cornejo, her friends later came to her rescue and brought Navarro to file a police blotter.

The comedian has since denied the rape accusation, adding that he was the victim. He said that as soon as he arrived in Cornejo’s condominium, a man arrived and pointed a gun at him.

Right after, he was bound, beaten up, videotaped with his pants down, and forced to say on tape that he raped a friend. The perpetrators, said Navarro, demanded P1 million to that word of the incident would not get out.

Cornejo and Lee continue to stand by their version of events.

The NBI started looking into the case on Monday, January 27, when DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima said the incident involving Navarro and Cornejo was “worth investigating.”

Cornejo meanwhile said she would be filing an attempted rape case against Navarro on Wednesday, January 29. – Rappler.com

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