Retired teacher loses jewelry, cash to 3 con artists

A retired teacher reported to the police that she lost P100,000 in cash and jewelry to three female con artists who tricked her into surrendering her valuables with a promise to pay  her P100,000 to help them buy a water purifier in Mandaue City.

Rebecca Maloloy-on, 65, said  she lost two class rings worth P11,000; a P20,000 gold bracelet; gold earrings worth P15,000; P50,000 cash and two ATM cards whose account held P97,000.

Maloloy-on, a resident of barangay Looc, Lapu-Lapu City, told police three women approached her in church when she attended a wedding at the Our Lady of Rule church in  Lapu-Lapu last Thursday afternoon.

They asked her where to buy a water purifier.

When she advised them to go to Mandaue City, the women offered to pay her  P100,000 cash as a commission if she would accompany them to Mandaue.

Maloloy-on agreed.

But before going to Mandaue,  she was asked to prove that she had cash and jewelry.

Maloloy-on said she went home to get cash and jewelry and returned to the church where the three women waited for her, said PO3 Gilbert dela Cruz, investigator of Mandaue City police’s Investigation and Detection Management Branch (IDMB).

Maloloy-on was also told to withdraw cash to prove that she had ATM funds.

The four went  to the Landbank in barangay Centro, Mandaue where  Maloloyon withdrew P10,000 and gave the PIN code of her ATM to the three women.

Maloloy-on said she couldn’t explain why she  revealed the PIN code, which is confidential personal information, or  followed everything that the three women asked her to do.

The group proceeded to the Saint Joseph Shrine in Mandaue where Maloloy-on was asked to go to Dr. Ignacio Cortes Memorial Hospital to get her commission from a certain Judy.

Before going to the hospital, Maloloy-on agreed to leave her  bag containing her valuables.

At the hospital, Maloloy-on found out there was no employee named Judy there.

She  returned to the church but the three women were gone.

When  Maloloy-on called Landbank and asked the management to block any transaction involving her accounts, she was told that P40,000 was already withdrawn from her account.

The victim then went to the police office to report the fraud.

Investigators went to the bank to ask to view video  footage of their security cameras for possible identification of the  con artists but the manager said releasing  the bank’s  video would need  a court order.

Chief Insp. Micheal Anthonyy Bastes, chief of IDMB, said  that according to bank manager Editha Tacan, each slide of the video would  cost P2,000 to P4,000.

Bastes said he will meet with members of the Cebu Bankers Club to seek clarification about  why police  investigators would have to pay to secure  video footage  for a criminal investigtation.