Takahiro Yamashita being interviewed by reporters. Photo by Danica Hermogenes/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Beware of who you meet on Facebook.
This was the warning issued by Superintendent Emma Libunao, chief of the Women and Children Protection Division of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police, after authorities caught a Japanese national who preyed on some 50 Filipinas.
Takahiro Yamashita, 41, of Komamoto, Japan, won women over with promises of marriage and jobs in Japan in order to get their money, said the police chief. The suspect chose his victims via the popular social networking website Facebook, Libunao said.
Libunao said that officers of the WCPD and Task Force Maverick nabbed Yamashita on Wednesday around 6 p.m. at Inasal Restaurant, SM Centerpoint in Sta. Mesa, Manila.
“He chooses his targets on Facebook, pretends that he has just arrived in the country and lost his passport,” said Libunao. Yamashita also went by different aliases and was fluent in Bisaya and Tagalog, Libunao added.
She stated that he would ask his victims for help in the form of money and free board and lodging. “He also got to some of his victims’ families–taking money not only from his victims but from their relatives as well.”
“(Yamashita) persuades the women to give him money because he promises that it would be for the processing of their documents so that he and his victims can go to Japan,” Libunao explained. She stated that once he was given money, he would leave his victim and move on to another target.
Libunao said that they believe Yamashita has victimized roughly 50 women and even men. “One of his victims provided documents that showed that he may have had at least 48 victims. We (also) found among his possessions passports, clearances and other documents needed to travel (out of the country),” said the chief of police.
The police chief urged the public, especially women, to be careful of strangers who want to establish relationships and even meet up with them through Facebook. “Women should be cautious with who they meet. Some people who agree to meet up with their Facebook contacts found trouble instead,” she said.
Yamashita first came to the Philippines on June 11, 1998, said Libunao. “His last entry to the country was last June 18, 2002, according to the Bureau of Immigration. He has been overstaying for nine years,” she stated.
The suspect is under the custody of the CIDG and faces charges for estafa and violation of RA 8042 (illegal recruitment), Libunao said.