THE murdered top executive of a Davao region-based investment company was reportedly not its founder.
This was the information that the police station in Balamban, Cebu received through its official Facebook page. Most of the informants said victim Armando Bernaldez Oppus, 34, was just an appointed chief executive officer of Crowd Royals Real Estate Services, which was reportedly involved in a scam.
“Oppus was just a front,” said Balamban Police Station Chief Christian Torres, quoting the persons who volunteered the information.
Oppus was found dead on a grassy lot in Barangay Cansomoroy, Balamban, Cebu on Tuesday night, Aug. 20, 2019.
“He was just appointed to be the chief executive officer since, allegedly, he was a licensed real estate broker,” Torres said.
The Digos City-based Crowd Royals was reportedly founded by Oppus, Edmon Corona Quiñones and Judy Ann Delatina-Estrella. They have been wanted in the Davao region since June 2019.
Torres, however, said they have yet to confirm the latest information they received about Oppus’s background.
Crowd Royals is among the 22 investment scams that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warned the public about in its May 31, 2019 advisory on fraudulent investment schemes conducted through social media.
Three days after Oppus’s death, the police have yet to identify his killer.
What the investigators have is only a person of interest: Estrella’s husband, a police corporal, who reportedly went absent without official leave sometime in June this year.
“The San Pedro Police Station chief, in Davao City, confirmed that the said police officer left Davao City sometime in July 27 with his wife. It was the same time that Oppus, together with his family, was also seen leaving Davao,” Torres said.
In a related development, Torres said the Land Transportation Office reported to him that the burned car found in Barangay Sunog, Balamban, not far from where Oppus was found dead, was registered under the name of a Korean national.
The investigators have yet to coordinate with the Provincial Highway Patrol Group to check the status of the vehicle, to determine if it had been carnapped or rented.
As of this writing, none of Oppus’s relatives has claimed his body from a funeral parlor in Balamban yet. (WBS)