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Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Woman hunted for 'swindling' US$1 million
By Marna H. Dagumboy
GUAGUA, Pampanga -- An international police group is hunting down a woman who hails from a barangay here for allegedly fleeing with an estimated US$1 million, reports said.
The amount represented payments she collected, as a part-time travel agent, from individuals and groups who advanced her sums for airline tickets. She did not book and pay for their flights.
Australian businessman John Rutten and his Kapampangan wife, Naty, are among some 80 complainants. They arrived in the Philippines a week ago to trace the whereabouts of Lourdes Mungcal Santos, 39, of Barangay Pulung Masle in Guagua town.
Police investigations revealed the victims of the scheme gave money to Santos for what were supposed to be discounted airline tickets only to discover they were not booked or that their payment was not forwarded to the airlines.
Santos and her husband reportedly migrated to Dee Why, New South Wales where she worked as a machine-cutting operator in a publishing house. She was a booking agent arranging and accepting payments for group tours.
Among her repeat clients were fellow Filipinos in Australia, including the Rutten couple. Naty Rutten is a native of Porac town and is a "close friend" of Santos. Her husband John is a retiree whose pensions they invested in the scheme.
For several months, Santos and the Ruttens were in a business arrangement wherein the couple invested in her airline ticket discount enterprise and received in return monthly interest payments.
The Rutten couple invested $163,000 and John's brother Theo put in $151,200.
The other complainants were Commonwealth Bank of Australia, CitiBank, Westpack Banking, GE Capital Finance, Josephine Lanz, Gloria Calimquim, Anita Capal, Divina Spears, Polin Wang, Ling Wei, and Josephine Ingleson, each demanding the return of their funds.
To evade settlement of money claims, Santos had filed a notice of bankruptcy, reports said. She cited as the cause of her bankruptcy the "excessive interest payments on loan monies and capital losses on repayments."
The Rutten couple requested any party in the province who may have knowledge of Santos's investments and personal properties, in this town and elsewhere, to advise them. A reward will be given for the information, Naty said.
Naty believes some Kapampangan migrants in Australia might have also been victims of this ticket discount scam. She is warning them against Santos, who is persuasive, smooth talking, can be charming and appears kindly.
The Rutten couple said that according to police, as Santos is not a registered travel agent, victims and claimants would find it difficult to retrieve their investments.
(May 4, 2005 issue)
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