By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – Two travel agency employees who posed as Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) personnel were arrested for allegedly soliciting money from families of former Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) workers.
An entrapment conducted by the PAOCC, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday resulted in the arrest of Rosalie Bolaños and Javie Nobleta, employees of the JRB Travel and Consultancy Services Inc. in Intramuros, Manila.
In a news release on Thursday, PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said the two posed as PAOCC employees to entice victims to pay a large sum for their removal from the deportation list of arrested POGO workers.
One victim allegedly paid PHP900,000 for the removal of one detainee from the list, while another paid PHP1.1 million to free his spouse who was arrested during a raid in a POGO hub in Parañaque.
Aside from receiving the funds, the suspects also allegedly offer bogus official documents such as tax identification number (TIN) cards, birth and marriage certificates, driver’s licenses, Philippine passports, immigration documents, and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) clearances.
Bolaños also had a standing warrant of arrest for an estafa case filed by a South Korean national, Jeongyul Hong, who claimed to have paid PHP3.2 million to secure a visa which remained undelivered for over a year.
Charges of robbery-extortion, usurpation of authority, estafa and grave coercion have been filed against the suspects. (PNA)
