LUCENA CITY—Police here said they busted the operations of three women who were alleged members of a con syndicate offering instant cash returns for every investment made by their victims.
Superintendent Ramon Balauag, Lucena police chief, identified the arrested suspects as Marie Magtibay Palayan, 55; Brendetita Mollo De Salvador, 54; and Catarina Etorma Rama, 59, all residents of Tayabas City.
The suspects, who identified themselves as members of the Voice for Global Solution on Poverty Association, were arrested following the complaint of Juanita Cueto, a businesswoman based in Candelaria town.
The victim accused the suspects of conniving with each other and duping her of P400,000 through false claims and deceit.
Acting on a tip, local police spotted the three in Zaballero Subdivision here on Friday afternoon, which led to their arrest. The suspects were positively identified by the victim.
Balauag said upon investigation, they found that the suspects were soliciting investments from gullible victims all over the province with a promise of a P10-million return for their investments.
The group maintains its own website and described itself as a nonprofit, nonstock corporation registered at the Security and Exchange Commission.
In its primer, the group based in Subic, Zambales, said it was “created by virtue of volunteerism.”
“All members exercise their rights constitutionally in order to bring out the voice of the people in order to solve the existing poverty that the country is facing nowadays,” the group’s primer said.
“A member voluntarily contributes for the benefits of them in cash or in kind to achieve its purpose,” the group said.