MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday arrested a fugitive who was convicted of estafa in 1996 for engaging in fraudulent investment scheme.

According to Marianito Panganiban, chief of the NBI Anti-Organized Crime Division, suspect Nimfa Montes Beredo, alias Patricia Beredo, 45, a native of Lumban, Laguna, had been engaged in a Ponzi scheme—a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high, short-term returns to investors out of the money raised from new investors, rather than from profits generated by any real business.

The suspect sweet-talked several people into investing in her fake travel and ticketing business, Panganiban added.

Beredo was arrested at her office in Malate, Manila, during an entrapment operation, following a complaint filed by one Michaela Canete.

However, during investigation, NBI records revealed Beredo has long been wanted by the law for her conviction in another estafa case. She was sentenced by Pasig City Judge Alicia Marin-Co to 17 to 20 years imprisonment but was tried in absentia after she jumped bail and fled to the United States in 1995 while the trial was on-going.

While in the US, Beredo, posing as a travel agent, continued her swindling activities victimizing unsuspecting friends and acquaintances—Filipinos and foreigners alike.

“She used a false identity to defraud her victims of millions of dollars,” Panganiban said, adding that the suspect even underwent facial alteration.