FB message: I’ll lead you to killer for P300K

A man was charged with robbery-extortion after he contacted a murder victim’s family on Facebook and offered them information on the killer in exchange for P300,000 in cash and two expensive cell phones.

When he was arrested in an entrapment operation the other day, Jun Flores, a 41-year-old resident of Novaliches, Quezon City, told the police that he was desperate to come up with the money he needed to get a job overseas.

General Assignment Section head Insp. Danilo Malab Jr. of the Quezon City Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit told the Inquirer: “He said he just really needed the money to work in Qatar.”

Asked if the suspect really had any information about the murder, Malab said that at first, Flores said he did although he later took it back.

The police, however, did not say who the victim was to avoid jeopardizing the ongoing investigation of the murder case.

The police said that on Sunday, Flores contacted the murder victim’s family on the social networking site Facebook and told them that he knew who was behind the killing of their kin last June.

When the victim’s family responded to his message on Monday, Flores asked them to pay him P500,000 for the information within two days. He also warned them against saying anything about him to the police.

The victim’s family haggled with Flores until he agreed to lower the amount to P300,000 and two iPhones. They agreed to meet with him at a fastfood restaurant in a mall in Cubao, Quezon City, although they contacted the police which immediately set up an entrapment operation.

As soon as Flores took the money from a relative of the victim, the police arrested him.

Asked why Flores targeted the victim’s family, the police said he apparently found the Facebook page where they expressed their sentiment to find justice for their slain loved one.

“They never offered a reward for information on the killer but he may have simply thought he could get easy money from them,” Malab said.

The police added that they were looking into the possibility that Flores may have victimized the kin of other murder victims using the same modus operandi.