DAGUPAN CITY – Police collared a member of an organized credit card syndicate after she went back to the supermarket to buy groceries.
The gang victimized two persons in Dagupan City in two days, using the victims’ credits cards immediately after stealing them. The victims requested not to be identified.
Dagupan City Police Chief Gerardo Roxas identified the arrested suspect as Evelyn Ocampo. She claimed to be a resident of Sampaloc, Manila.
She identified her cohort as Estella de Leon. A case of robbery was filed against the two.
The police submitted the fingerprints of Ocampo to the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory at Camp Crame to establish her true identity.
Like other criminal elements, said Roxas, Ocampo did not have any identification card with her when she was arrested.
Roxas affirmed that Ocampo and her companions are members of an organized group based on their modus operandi and the swiftness of their operation from the time they are able to unnoticeably steal and run off with their victims’ credit cards and using them thereafter.
At about 3:30 p.m. last Wednesday, a Fil-Am Life Insurance employee discovered that her wallet containing cash, several credit cards, ATM cards and others, was missing from the drawer of her table.
While the police were conducting investigation the following day, they received a report that Citibank had just been victimized by the gang.
Accordingly, her wallet placed inside her bag was missing. It contained P3,900 cash, credit cards and ATM cards and other important documents.
Roxas said the suspects spent a total of P62,885 from the credit cards of the Fil-Am Life employee. They shopped at Nepo Mall at Arellano Street, this city, buying a cellular phone worth P26,500, bought expensive liquor and other items at the supermarket thereat, and bought other items at the department store.
Allegedly, they also tried to buy some items at CSI City Mall but the card was already blocked.
Meanwhile, they were able to spent a total of P47,598 from the credit card of the Citibank employee.
Roxas said upon tracing the suspect’s transactions at the Nepo Mall, they briefed the employees of the areas/sections where Ocampo bought the liquor and the cellular phone to report to the police if ever she comes back. This they did when they spotted her at the liquor section.
The police officer said based on the closed circuit television (CCTV) recordings they were able to acquire, a different woman operates inside the office of their target victim. The stolen items are then passed to Ocampo who herself make the purchases.
Ocampo has a ready 1x1 ID picture which she uses to replace the victim’s picture on her ID. Roxas said the ID passes as hers if the cashier does not scrutinize it carefully.
Roxas described the suspects’ operation as strike-and-withdraw. They use the credit cards of the victims immediately and withdraw or leave the place.
He said Ocampo made a mistake of going back to the place where he earlier shopped. While she was being interrogated at the police station, he said a person called up Ocampo’s cell phone. She warned the caller not to call again as she was at the police station. (LCMY/Sunnex)
