A group of swindlers were found posing as sales representatives for a food company.
Dindo A. Danao, media officer of Foodsphere Inc., maker of CDO food products, said a group of swindlers from Luzon is using the company for their swindling activities in Cebu, Samar and Tacloban.
Most of their victims are housewives and sari-sari store owners, he said.
Danao said the group, composed of at least 16 members, would go house to house introducing themselves as sales representatives of CDO and offer their potential victims a dealership business in exchange for money.
As soon as the victims accept the deal, the swindlers would ask for a down payment for the goods in the dealership but none will be delivered.
“We don’t have these kinds of promotions. We don’t ask for advance payment,” said Danao in a press conference yesterday.
Danao said CDO has its own dealers and retailers and they are provided with credit lines.
Police identified the leader of the group as Allan Cruz who was arrested last 2010.
Danao said Cruz is facing a number of estafa cases but is out on bail.
Danao said the group started its swindling operations in 2003 in Luzon area and has victmized more than 100 individuals.
Each victim has paid between P3,000 and P5,000, said Danao.
Noli Acebedo, CDO sales supervisor in Central and Eastern Visayas, said their were five victims recorded in Cebu – Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City; two in Samar and one in Tacloban.
Danao said their company provided legal support to the victims.
Wilson Villaceran, a sales executive of CDO, said the thieves would offer the victims several CDO processed meat products.
The swindlers would offer the victims a freezer for the processed meat products and a down payment of P5,000 and would promise to deliver the freezer the next day.
Villaceran said the suspects would not provide an official receipt to the victims and they also wear a shirt with a CDO logo, and show product catalogues and brochures to the victims.
Villaceran said the suspects would offer the victims 15 percent payment of their electricity as part of the dealership.
Two of the female victims who asked not to be named, faced the media yesterday.
A female victim, a sari-sari store owner from Mandaue, said Tan went to their house last July 9 and offered her the promotion.
The victim said Tan presented a company ID and showed her some flyers.
The victim said that Tan offered her a dealership package ranging from P5,000 and P7,000.
“He (Tan) promised that my money (investment) will be returned in five days,” the victim said.
The victim said she was convinced to pay P12,500 as down payment for a higher package and P2,500 down payment for the freezer.
The money she used was her allotment from her husband who works abroad.
The other female victim, an Internet shop owner in Marigondon, Lapu-Lapu, said she was convinced to pay P2,500 as down payment of the products last July 28 but no products were delivered to her.
The victims said they contacted the CDO office in A.S. Fortuna, Mandaue City and found out that Tan is not a CDO employee./REPORTER RHEA RUTH V. ROSELL