DSWD undersecretary’s maid arrested for theft of vault loaded with valuables

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MANILA, Philippines — A househelper who allegedly delivered the vault containing the valuables owned by an undersecretary at the Department of Social Welfare and Development, to thieves on Saturday afternoon, has been arrested and is now being investigated by the police.

DSWD Undersecretary Parisya Hashim-Taradji, 61, of Sampaguita Street, Mapayapa Village 2, in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City, had her 20-year-old stay-in employee Sheryl Baleña arrested after she lost more than P1 million worth of cash and jewelry, several land titles, and other important documents inside a portable vault that the house helper had allegedly turned over to thieves.

Investigators from the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) said that the theft happened late Saturday afternoon while the members of the Taradji family were away from their house.

The suspect, Baleña, told police that she received a phone call informing her that the DSWD undersecretary had been in a vehicular accident and needed money for her medical treatment. She was allegedly given instructions to take a taxi and bring the vault to a supermarket chain branch in Valenzuela City.

At around 7:30 p.m. of the same day, Taradji and her husband arrived at their house and discovered both the portable vault and their house helper missing.

She immediately called up Baleña on her mobile phone and, pretending nothing was amiss, asked her where she was. The house helper promptly replied she was at a supermarket in Valenzuela City without even expressing surprise that her employer sounded well. Taradji told her to immediately return home, which she did.

When Baleña arrived at the house, she told the DSWD undersecretary and QCPD-CIDU investigators that she was victimized by the “dugo-dugo” (swindling) gang. The police investigators arrested her on suspicion that she was in cahoots with the thieves.

Senior Police Officer 4 Ding Pascua, of the QCPD-CIDU, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that they became suspicious when Baleña hardly expressed surprise upon learning that her employer was not in an accident. But, he added, “she specifically told her employer and police investigators that she was victimized by the dugo-dugo gang.”

Pascua explained that any other victim of the gang would normally just say he or she was duped but would not mention the dugo-dugo gang. Likewise, he noted that Baleña never asked Taradji about the accident she was supposedly in.

At the QCPD-CIDU holding cell, Baleña insisted that she had been a victim of the dugo-dugo gang but said that by the time she went out of her employer’s house with the vault, a taxi was already waiting for her.

She maintained that she heard about the dugo-dugo gang on TV and when asked why she did not call her employer to check if she had been in an accident, she simply replied, “It slipped my mind.”

Baleña remains in the custody of the QCPD-CIDU pending the filing of a qualified theft charge against her before the city prosecutor’s office.