FEW CLUES

An empty house, unfunded checks, and ID photos are all that’s left of a group of con artists who disappeared after a buying spree that left several suppliers in Metro Cebu poorer by at least P6 million.
A few clues are being followed by Lapu-Lapu City police, who said they believe six persons were involved, not just a man and a woman.
A photo ID of one suspect, Aljohn Abrenica, who signed several of the post-dated checks, was secured by police who traced his record in the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
Photos of of two women, who used the names Faith Booc Baya and a certain Anabelle Booc Igot were secured from the BIR and an Avon cosmetics branch in Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City where Igot had applied as a member.
The swindlers purchased goods in bulk — construction materials, roller blinds, copying machines, computers, paint, toiletries and processed meat – by issuing post-dated checks on a Friday or Saturday just before the May 13 election.
It was only after the weekend and Monday election-holiday that business owners found out that the bank accounts of the buyers, who spoke Tagalog and English, were all closed.
Stores in Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City, Talisay City and Minglanilla suffered big losses after delivering the merchandise to a rented house of Abrenica in Casa Nuestra Subdivision in Lapu-Lapu City — only to end up not being paid.
THREE MORE VICTIMS
Three more sellers yesterday went to the Lapu-Lapu City police to report being swindled by Abrenica and his companions, bringing the total number of known victims to 20.
Agustin Export Accessories of Inayawan, Cebu City reported losing P49,300 worth of boxing accessories to Aljohn Abrenica.
Arnold Perez of Basak, Lapu-Lapu City who posted his computer business online, delivered a P45,000 Macbook to Faith Baya and was never paid.
Vintage Point Global Trading Corp. in Lapu-Lapu City said it delivered a Closed Circuit TV system worth P280,000 after being issued a check by Abrenica.
With the wave of estafa cases, business chamber leaders urged fellow businessmen to be more prudent in their transactions.
“You have to take time to know your customers well, know their credit history and never be too trusting,” said Philip Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Tan said he was saddened to read about established firms being tricked by con artists.
“Cebu attracts not only investors but also bad elements including swindlers so we should start setting up protocols and policies to protect our business,” he said.
In check payments, business owners and staff should start by clearing the checks first before delivering goods to ensure payment, especially from individual customers, he said.
Prudencio Gesta, a banker and past president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the modus used by the culprits of issuing check payments on non-banking days was a sign of possible hanky panky.
“I advise businessmen not to accommodate any request to purchase by using personal check and even manager’s check during non-banking days regardless if the amount of the check is more than the purchase amount, which is the usual gimmick,” said Gesta.
Gesta said businessmen can call the depository bank or directly call the drawee bank to ask if the bank account is still open and whether there are pending stopped payment orders.
“Better still, don’t accommodate purchases until the check is cleared,” he said.
In the case of the 20 Metro Cebu suppliers, the con artists gained their trust by making an initial purchase for a small volume of goods starting May 1. They received delivery and good checks.
The second transaction was made by May 8 for bulk orders and turned out to be the real bait.
In some cases, the swindlers showed a copy of their bank passbooks and other documents to show they had large accounts in China Bank and Malayan Bank in Metro Manila.
Fraudulent incidents like this raise the need for a centralized database that will allow enterprises to check information about criminal suspects in the country, said Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan Joseph.
“There will always be criminals like these. What we lack in the country is a complete and searchable database where records can be cross referenced by banks, government creditors and the like. We should look at a national ID system that will merge all identity numbers such as SSS, drivers license, Philheath, etc.”, said Joseph.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas of the Lapu-lapu police said authorities are preparing to file complaints of estafa against the suspects.
SPO2 Frederick Eslit of the TRS said his team is checking the background of the suspects through banks, the BIR, Land Transportation Office.
They believe six individuals are involved, three men and three women.
At the Casa Nuestra Subdivision, a security guard said the occupants left about 7 p.m. of Saturday, May 11, and never returned.’
“Many were looking for them here on Tuesday until Friday to collect payments but they had never came back,” said Fulgencio Larano, a guard of the gated subdivision.
He said he noticed the house used to have two vehicles, a Nissan Navarra and a Hilux pick-up and a wing van parked by the road.
“Daghan man sila, dili lang duha,” said Larano. (there were more than two of them).
The house owner, a manager in the Mactan Export Processing zone, was also issued a check for the rental that turned out unfunded.
Several stores in the public market tried to collect payment for plastic ware worth P30,000 ordered by the missing occupants.
Police found records of Abrenica at the BIR office and compared his signatures with checks issued to the stores.
Abrenica gave addresses of  Bocaue in Bulacan province and Talisay in Batangas province and Bangkal, Lapu-Lapu city in Cebu.
One ID card said he was born in 1975 in barangay Turong, Bocawe, Bulacan.