NBI corners 2 Fil-Ams, American man in online fraud
MANILA, Philippines — Two Filipino-Americans and their American cohort who have allegedly been victimizing people selling laptops via shopping website eBay.ph were arrested in an entrapment operation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Sunday.
The NBI on Tuesday identified the suspects as Filipino-Americans Virgil Anthony Pineda and Reynaldo Lumbo and their American colleague as Robert Andrew Hornick. Estafa (fraud) charges were being readied against the three suspects.
Regional Director Ric Diaz, chief of staff of the NBI’s Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence Services, said the arrests stemmed from complaints filed separately by Emmanuel Dris, Paulo Madamba, and Ken Koga.
“This group has been purchasing laptops, iPods, cellular phones and other high-tech gadgets via e-Bay.ph, then they would meet the sellers and pay them with falsified checks," he added.
An investigation conducted by the bureau’s Anti-Terrorism Division (ATD) showed that sometime last June, Dris, who is into buy-and-sell, tried to sell his Toshiba laptop worth P40,000 via on-line buy-and-sell eBay.ph site.
Dris said Hornick’s group contacted him to express interest in buying the laptop and a meeting was set at the Promenade Starbucks in Greenhills, San Juan. It was there that Dris met the three suspects, who claimed that they were “working" at the US Embassy.
The suspects agreed to buy the laptop for P40,000 and they paid a Dris manager’s check amounting to P40,000 and took his laptop. When Dris tried to encash the manager’s check at the Banco de Oro (BDO) on Pedro Gil Street, Manila, he was informed that the account was already closed.
Dris tried to call up the suspects through their respective prepaid cellular phones but he could not contact them.
In another complainant, Madamba claimed that a certain Virgil Ignacio contacted him and expressed his interest to buy his Macbook Pro 17-inch via eBay.ph.
Madamba said in his sworn statement that the suspects claimed to be US military personnel. He agreed to sell his laptop and was paid a manager’s check, which also later bounced when he tried to encash it.
Koga, the third victim, told the NBI that Hornick and his cohorts offered to buy his Macbook Pro and paid him a P101,000 manager's check. As in the caseof Dris and Madamba, the check Koga got bounced and that the trio could not be contacted.
Outwitted
As found by some of the victims later, at least 15 other people have fallen prey to the gang using the same trickery.
To track down the suspects, a brother of Dris, whose name was being kept confidential, posted in eBay.ph that he was selling a laptop. Quite expectedly, the suspects contacted Dris’ brother and a meeting was set at Greenhills last Sunday.
Unknown to the suspects, NBI agents were part of the planned entrapment operation. When the exchange was made, with Hornick issuing another bouncing checkfor the laptop, the agents announced the arrest.
Ric Diaz said his team was verifying claims by the suspects that they were US soldiers who have just resigned from an assignment in Afghanistan.
“We already sent a letter to the US Legal Attaché inquiring about the status of the Hornick and Pineda, who were said to have served as US military personnel in Afghanistan. We are also verifying the information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," said Diaz, who noted that the suspects even tried to resist arrest. - GMANews.TV
The NBI on Tuesday identified the suspects as Filipino-Americans Virgil Anthony Pineda and Reynaldo Lumbo and their American colleague as Robert Andrew Hornick. Estafa (fraud) charges were being readied against the three suspects.
Regional Director Ric Diaz, chief of staff of the NBI’s Office of the Deputy Director for Intelligence Services, said the arrests stemmed from complaints filed separately by Emmanuel Dris, Paulo Madamba, and Ken Koga.
“This group has been purchasing laptops, iPods, cellular phones and other high-tech gadgets via e-Bay.ph, then they would meet the sellers and pay them with falsified checks," he added.
An investigation conducted by the bureau’s Anti-Terrorism Division (ATD) showed that sometime last June, Dris, who is into buy-and-sell, tried to sell his Toshiba laptop worth P40,000 via on-line buy-and-sell eBay.ph site.
Dris said Hornick’s group contacted him to express interest in buying the laptop and a meeting was set at the Promenade Starbucks in Greenhills, San Juan. It was there that Dris met the three suspects, who claimed that they were “working" at the US Embassy.
The suspects agreed to buy the laptop for P40,000 and they paid a Dris manager’s check amounting to P40,000 and took his laptop. When Dris tried to encash the manager’s check at the Banco de Oro (BDO) on Pedro Gil Street, Manila, he was informed that the account was already closed.
Dris tried to call up the suspects through their respective prepaid cellular phones but he could not contact them.
In another complainant, Madamba claimed that a certain Virgil Ignacio contacted him and expressed his interest to buy his Macbook Pro 17-inch via eBay.ph.
Madamba said in his sworn statement that the suspects claimed to be US military personnel. He agreed to sell his laptop and was paid a manager’s check, which also later bounced when he tried to encash it.
Koga, the third victim, told the NBI that Hornick and his cohorts offered to buy his Macbook Pro and paid him a P101,000 manager's check. As in the caseof Dris and Madamba, the check Koga got bounced and that the trio could not be contacted.
Outwitted
As found by some of the victims later, at least 15 other people have fallen prey to the gang using the same trickery.
To track down the suspects, a brother of Dris, whose name was being kept confidential, posted in eBay.ph that he was selling a laptop. Quite expectedly, the suspects contacted Dris’ brother and a meeting was set at Greenhills last Sunday.
Unknown to the suspects, NBI agents were part of the planned entrapment operation. When the exchange was made, with Hornick issuing another bouncing checkfor the laptop, the agents announced the arrest.
Ric Diaz said his team was verifying claims by the suspects that they were US soldiers who have just resigned from an assignment in Afghanistan.
“We already sent a letter to the US Legal Attaché inquiring about the status of the Hornick and Pineda, who were said to have served as US military personnel in Afghanistan. We are also verifying the information with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)," said Diaz, who noted that the suspects even tried to resist arrest. - GMANews.TV
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