THE FALLOUT from the Aman Futures pyramid scam has spiraled into a string of abductions involving angry investors and company agents taking the brunt for lost fortunes and blighted lives.
A manhunt is now going on for Toti Montila who allegedly abducted four people on Nov. 1.
According to the military, Montila was hunting down the Aman Futures agent who facilitated his family’s reported P22-million investment in the company because he needed the money to pay the ransom demanded for the release of his own abducted brother.
Montila’s brother was also an Aman Futures agent who was earlier kidnapped by his client who was demanding that his money be returned, said Brig. Gen. Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.
“There was pressure on Toti Montila because his brother was also (taken) for his failure to return the investment of his kidnapper. Toti cannot find the agent (whose surname is) Lucman so he decided to kidnap (Lucman’s) brothers and cousins,” Lucero said in a phone interview.
Montila’s victims were identified as Abdul Muhaimen Lucman, Muhamad Dresa Lucman, Camlon Deca and Amer Deca.
They were rescued by the military on Nov. 12 in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur.
Montila’s brother has yet to be rescued and his kidnapper has remained unidentified.
The kidnapping incident in Piagapo was elevated to the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag), a peace mechanism between the government and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front because Montila and his group had entered an MILF area, according to Ahjag chair Brig. Gen. Roland Amarille.
“We had to coordinate with the MILF because our troops will enter their area for law enforcement operations,” Amarille told the Inquirer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where Amarille is attending the exploratory peace talks with the MILF.
Philippine and Malaysian authorities are hunting down Manuel Amalilio, the alleged brains behind the multibillion peso investment scam, who has reportedly fled to Kota Kinabalu in East Malaysia.