Short answer. There is an offence squarely for this. Article 317 punishes a person who, taking advantage of the inexperience or emotions or feelings of a minor, induces him to his detriment to assume an obligation or to transfer a property right in consideration of a loan of money, credit or personal property.
What the law says
Any person who, taking advantage of the inexperience or emotions or feelings of a minor, to his detriment, shall induce him to assume any obligation or to give any release or execute a transfer of any property right in consideration of some loan of money, credit or other personal property, whether the loan clearly appears in the document or is shown in any other form
Revised Penal Code, Article 317 — Swindling A Minor. Read the full provision →
What the article requires
Article 317 describes any person who, taking advantage of the inexperience or emotions or feelings of a minor, to his detriment, shall induce him to assume any obligation or to give any release or execute a transfer of any property right in consideration of some loan of money, credit or other personal property. Four things, then: that the signatory was a minor; that his inexperience, emotions or feelings were taken advantage of; that he was induced to bind himself or part with a property right; and that the transaction was in consideration of a loan.
The clause that closes the obvious escape route
The article adds that it applies whether the loan clearly appears in the document or is shown in any other form. That is a deliberate answer to the most predictable defence, which is that the paper on its face records a sale, an assignment or a settlement and mentions no loan at all. The provision looks past the label to what the transaction actually was, and the loan may be established by any means. So the document being tidy is not the obstacle it first appears to be.
Taking advantage is the element in issue
Minority alone does not make the offence, and neither does the transaction being a bad bargain. The article requires that the minor's inexperience, emotions or feelings were taken advantage of — conduct directed at a vulnerability, not merely a transaction with someone young. In practice that is shown by how the deal was set up: where the lender approached him, what was explained and what was not, whether anyone else was allowed to be present, and how the disparity between what was lent and what was signed over came about.
Two tracks, and both are worth opening at once
A criminal complaint under this article is one route. The validity of the document itself is a separate question governed by the law on contracts and on the capacity of minors, and it is often the more urgent one where a property right is involved and further dealings may follow. Secure the document, the record of what was actually received, his birth certificate to establish minority at the date, and every message between him and the lender. Bring all of it to a lawyer together, promptly.
Related provisions
- Revised Penal Code, Article 317 — Swindling A Minor
- Revised Penal Code, Article 315 — Swindling (Estafa)