Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Teacher in visa racket charged
By Rhodamae M. Hernandez
THE regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed charges against a Philippine Public Safety College teacher who is a non-uniformed personnel of the school, accused of duping three women in a US visa scam.
Charged with violation of Republic Act 8042, otherwise known as the Migrants Workers and Overseas Filipino Act of 1995, and three counts estafa was Jay Bacarenas Zambrano, 31, of Farland Extension in Dumoy, Toril.
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The filing of the charges stemmed from the complaint filed by Grace Cardenas, Letecia Sierra, and Judith Paccial who accused Zambrano of extorting money from them amounting to P1,320,000.
In a joint affidavit of complaint, they said that sometime in 2006, the respondent recruited them to work in United States that will also grant them immigrant status because he has so many contacts in the US.
They said that as a part of the scheme, Zambrano required them to be married to an alleged US citizen based in the city, which was pre-arranged by the respondent.
They claimed that they believed in his promises, thus went through with the “marriages” as well as gave Zambrano the money he was demanding as payment.
Cardenas was able to give P320,000; Sierra gave P500,000; and Paccial, as a form of payment, gave her house and lot with a total purchase amount of P500,000, where the accused and his family are now staying.
They said the respondent introduced them to a certain Roy Mantera whom he said arrived from the United States in October 2006.
Zambrano and Mantera allegedly promised the complainants they will process and facilitate everything, so they can immediately leave for the US.
The complainants said they were also promised that their children will become immigrant/citizens and work in the US soon.
They claimed that after submitting and complying all their documents and requirements, together with their payments, their scheduled travel to the US never materialized.
They said after the incident, they went to the NBI office and sought the assistance of NBI agent Arcelito C. Albao.
The suspect is now detained at the NBI-Southern Mindanao detention cell after an entrapment operation.
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pangasinan. For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (November 7, 2007 issue)
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