Saturday, July 28, 2007 Woman official denies 'sex' scam By Stephen Capillas
A WOMAN official of the Medina municipal government Friday denied she figured in an online scam with her sister victimizing an American national.
In a radio interview at the "Bombohanay Sa Udto" program of anchor Michael Bustamante, the woman identified only as "Lovely Girl" said that while she did converse with the American online, she didn't engage in any sort of "sexual exchange" with him during their chats.
Earlier, the American, identified only as "William," claimed the woman official fooled him into believing she was single and accepted thousands of pesos from him in exchange for a marriage proposal.
William's letter, read during the program in the past few days, recounted that the woman official agreed to his requests to exhibit herself nude in front of web cameras installed during their online chats.
William then asked whether the woman was single and when she supposedly confirmed it, proposed marriage to her right there and then. He promised to come to the country in September to fetch her from Medina town.
However, it was learned that the American managed to get information from her that contradicted her claims of being separated from her husband for five years. By then, he reportedly sent several thousands of pesos to support her.
Feeling manipulated, the American decided to forward the nude photos of this Medina government worker to everyone he knew including to some local friends he met online.
A Cagayan de Oro City resident who requested anonymity said he received the nude photos last month and actually did not know who the woman was.
"But there were some email messages forwarded to me that this woman works in Medina here in the province of Misamis Oriental," he said.
"A friend of mine who is close to Mayor Bebe (Sulpicio) Uyguangco and frequents government offices there disclosed in the message on how the woman in the nude photos was a government worker in their town," the same resident said.
The American also claimed that the woman official is using her sister's account to communicate with him.
William also sent photos showing the woman official in varying stages of undress as proof of his claims.
In response the woman official said while she did manage to converse with the American, she didn't pose nude for him and only showed some "suggestive poses."
When asked why she managed to converse with him online for several months, the woman denied doing so and said she quit chatting with him because she didn't want him to believe she was interested in him.
"Although I did chat with him, it wasn't long and I didn't ask money from him," she said, as she also admitted that her husband was with her when she was talking with the American. (With a report from LJA)
