Man nabbed for ‘extorting’ Veco

POLICE arrested a man who allegedly tried to extort money from the Visayan Electric Company (Veco).

Rolando Lejarde, 51, was arrested after accepting P5,000 in marked money in an entrapment operation inside the Veco office in barangay Banilad, Cebu City, on Monday.

Lejarde, a resident of barangay San Roque, Cebu City, denied the accusations against him. He even challenged Veco to file charges against him.

He said a case would just expose the real computation of electric meters, saying there’s  big money in the meter reading.

Senior Supt. Jose Pante, chief of CIDG-7, said Veco management sought help from them after Lejarde demanded that he will be given P180,000 a month.

Pante said the man threatened that their armed group would take action if Veco refuses to pay.

His claim that he belongs to an armed group is being verified.  He was charged with violation of Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code./CORRESPONDENT CHITO O. ARAGON