Fake SC worker offering annulment services arrested

A woman who pretended to be a Supreme Court employee and offered annulment services to clients was arrested for fraud in Quezon City over the weekend, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The suspect, identified as Jay Ann Balabagno, was taken into custody by agents of NBI’s Cybercrime Division (CCD) after her arrest in an entrapment operation in Fairview on Friday.

“The NBI-CCD received insider information that a certain Jay Ann Balabagno (a.k.a Jay Ann Anderson) was offering nonappearance services for annulment cases while posing as an employee of the Supreme Court,” the NBI said in its report.

While in a conversation with the suspect, NBI undercover agents spoke via Facebook with the former’s alleged principal, who identified herself as Sgt. Daylen Justimbaste of the Philippine Army.Justimbaste “vouched for the truthfulness of the offer for annulment,” according to the NBI.

But the NBI agents subsequently confirmed that Balabagno was not an employee of the Supreme Court.

Balabagno was charged with fraud and violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act and the Anti-Red Tape Act in the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office. Justimbaste, the suspect’s alleged conspirator, remains at large, the NBI said. INQ