Saturday, September 23, 2006 3 'swindlers' nabbed By Ernie N. Olson Jr.
THREE suspected members of an alleged big-time swindling syndicate were arrested for estafa charges by members of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) inside a house along Military Cut-off in the city.
This resulted after the suspects, identified as Sahidullah Pakirullah, Romeo Amiten Sr. and Paterno Espanta, allegedly "lured (the) complainant's mother in giving out money on the pretext of using this to finance their transaction with the US Government to be able to claim a US$33-billion worth of US Federal Reserve Notes."
The complainant in the case was Leo Alparpara Antonio, 48, of Naguilian Road. Antonio's mother Josefa also filed a complaint against the suspects last August 14.
A report said that sometime last June, the suspects introduced themselves to Josefa as a group tasked to process the claim of World War II veterans by presenting a computer printout as proof. They were able to convince Josefa to hand over all her bank accounts and sell their house to Sahidullah.
The impending sale of the house and bank withdrawals was, however, aborted due to the immediate intervention of Antonio.
"It was unearthed that Josefa (Antonio) was duped out of P24,000 on the pretext of being included as one of the multitude of beneficiaries of a US$33-billion worth of US Federal Treasury Reserve Notes held by the suspects," an NBI agent said.
"In the twist of events, the suspects surreptitiously packed up and left Antonio's house on the night of August 2, 2006, therewith absconding with all the bankbooks and time deposit slips of Josefa," the agent also said.
Acting on Antonio's complaint, the NBI retrieved the passbooks and related personal belongings of Josefa, which included three US Federal Reserve Notes worth US$1 billion each, representing her alleged share.
But suspicious of the recovered US Federal Reserve Notes, the bureau submitted the documents to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) office in Malate, Manila for appropriate analysis. As per certification of the BSP, the submitted US Federal Reserve Notes were found to be "fictitious financial documents".
After informing the complainants of the results of the analysis, the NBI persuaded the complaint to file charges against the suspects.
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