|
Friday, May 23, 2003
Gang gyps 4 banks with fake checks
CEBU -- Three women and two men were arrested Wednesday afternoon in Boljoon, Cebu after one of them used a fake check in paying around P3,000 worth of goods in nearby Oslob town.
During the arrest, the five yielded 42 “fake” Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) checks worth P124,377 and traveler’s checks worth $15,800, aside from the check used in purchasing the goods.
The police suspect the five, who used checks “issued” by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Department of Education (DepEd), belong to a syndicate specializing in bogus checks.
So far, they have victimized four rural banks and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dealer in four southern Cebu towns.
The police said the banks encashed the checks without verifying their genuineness with LBP Makati and Buendia branches.
Prudencio Gesta, former president of the Cebu Bankers Association, said banks should verify the authenticity of the checks before encashing them.
“There is a clearing period. Never encash a check unless it is cleared,” Gesta said in a radio dyLA interview Thursday.
One of the suspects was identified by employees of the Rural Bank of Cebu South, whose branches in Dalaguete, Argao, and Sibonga fell prey to the group.
Its Argao branch was even victimized twice, last May 9 and 10.
The other bank that got duped was the Upland Rural Bank in Dalaguete.
When shown the woman’s photo taken by Sun.Star at the Oslob Police Station, where she and her companions were detained, the cashier of the LPG dealer in Carcar town recognized her as the one who handed her the fake check last April 15.
The arrested suspects told the police they were just asked to encash the checks. They pointed to one person as the source of the checks.
SPO3 Bienvenido Ferrolino, Oslob police investigator, said an employee of Raymund Erauda Sr., owner of Junlyn Traders and General Merchandize, came to their station around 4 p.m. last Wednesday to report what the five did.
One of the women allegedly used a counterfeit Philippine Coast Guard check worth P8,216.14 and payable to “Henry Cuyos” in paying for the dry goods worth P3,000.
SPO3 Allan Villahermosa immediately sought the help of nearby Boljoon police because the perpetrators left towards the direction of Cebu City aboard a red and yellow passenger jeepney (GEY 320).
The five were intercepted at Elly Boulevard in Poblacion, Boljoon around 4:30 p.m. by SPO2 Benjamin Geraldizo, and PO2s Emmanuel Villareal, Nicomedes Aliñabon, and Crisanto Diez.
The police identified the five as Gloria Legaspi, 37, of Basak, Cebu City; Nenita dela Cruz Salotillo, 30, of Tangbo, Samboan town and resided in San Roque, Mambaling, Cebu City, and her live-in partner Rodrigo Herrera, 48, of Torre, Inawayan, Cebu City, who was the one who drove the vehicle.
The other two suspects were spouses Leah, 24, and Edwin Salotillo, 27, of Bakilid, Mandaue City.
SPO3 Cristino Uraca of Boljoon police said the five initially refused to show their identification cards, claiming they had none.
But they later yielded numerous ID cards from the DepEd, Pag-ibig, Philhealth, GSIS, SSS, BIR, and even the from the Professional Regulations Commission.
Also seized from them was a black bag containing P2,280.35, a cell phone, and the change of the check given to Junlyn Merchandize.
Sun.Star noted Nenita’s photo were in several IDs with different names like Adelfa Sauro, Glenda Ramos, Rosela Diez, Perla Corpus, and Rosalie Sandoval.
Several IDs bearing different names that the police believed were all fictitious were likewise confiscated.
Legaspi’s photos were also in three IDs that bore the names Aileen Locsin, Dolores Osorio, and Rhea Roelan.
Isabel Llena, 53, Erauda’s elder sister who acted as the cashier, told Sun.Star said it was Legaspi who handed to her the check used in paying for the goods.
Ferrolino said that prior to that, Legaspi went to the nearby rural bank about 50 to 70 meters away from the store and tried encashing the check.
Bank personnel, however, noted that the check was fake and refused to do so.
Llena said that after Legaspi and her companions left, bank employees George Tumulak and Romeo Lagari arrived and warned them that the check was fake.
That prompted the alarm that sent Boljoon police setting up a roadblock and arresting the five.
Ferrolino said personnel from Rural Bank of Cebu South from Argao, Sibonga, and Dalaguete came to their station yesterday morning and identified Nenita and Edwin as the swindlers.
Interviewed inside the jail, Nenita said Legaspi merely hitched a ride from Bato, Santander because she intended to have the check encashed in Oslob.
That was allegedly after Leah and Edwin also hitched a ride because they were going home after taking a vacation in the town with their child.
Nenita said she and Herrera went to Bato to deliver fighting cocks to be shipped to Tampi, Negros Oriental.
Legaspi denied trying to encash her check with the rural bank in Oslob and likewise denied knowing the check she had with her was a fake one.
She said a man she could not identify approached her in Bato’s park and sought her help to have the check changed to cash.
She, however, could not clearly explain why she was in Santander and why she still hitched a ride after buying the goods when Nenita said she was to go back to Santander.
Nenita, for her part, said the seized checks were given to her by a certain Danilo, allegedly a trader at the Tabo sa Banay on Colon st., Cebu City.
She said she buys and sells linen and was told by Danilo that she would get P2,000 for every encashed check.
Ferrolino said they will file a complaint for estafa for falsifying commercial documents and would still study what other charges could be raised against the suspects. RHM/Sun.Star Cebu
(May 23, 2003 issue)
Want Sun.Star news on your mobile phone? Click here.
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
