Personnel of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and the Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (NOrPPO) arrested four alleged members of a syndicate for estafa and falsification of public documents during an entrapment operation in Dumaguete City yesterday.
Highway Patrol Team-Negros Oriental provincial chief, Executive Master Sergeant Aurelio Bodo, said in an interview that the suspects — three men and a woman — were collared around 7:50 a.m. at San Jose Extension, Barangay Taclobo.
The suspects were identified through their aliases Herl Peter, 44 years old; Ralph, 27 years old; John, 26 years old; and Leeda, 25 years old, all residents of Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental.
“We believe that there are also other members of the group, as investigation showed that each one of them had assigned tasks in the transactions made with the complainant,” Bodo said.
During the entrapment operation, authorities recovered a red vehicle and its LTO registration documents.
Bodo said the operation stemmed from a complaint filed by Pablo Paradero, Jr. that he was “defrauded after purchasing the vehicle he saw was advertised in an online marketplace.”
Paradero said that last October 14, he and his son engaged an online seller to finalize the sale of a vehicle at P620,000, but he was arrested later by authorities for using falsified documents.
The four suspects are now detained at the city police’s lock-up facility pending the filing of complaints.
Meanwhile, police filed inquest proceedings yesterday against the suspect in the murder of two women in Barangay San Roque, San Jose town in Negros Oriental.
Captain Stephen Polinar, NOrPPO spokesperson, said the suspect was arrested several hours later after he opened fire at the residence of one of the victims, Juliet Chan Baloria, on Tuesday evening, December 16, in San Roque.
The other victim, who was at the Baloria residence at the time of the incident, also died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The motive behind the assault is unknown as authorities look into an investment scheme associated with Baloria, with numerous people owing her money, while she herself was also in debt to others for allegedly not repaying their invested funds. (PNA)