MANILA, Philippines–A con artist posing as a presidential secretary was nabbed Friday afternoon in the middle of a lunch meeting with his prospective victim in a Quezon City restaurant.
Mark Ryan Sumulong, who claimed he is a relative of President Benigno Aquino III and a secretary of the Office of Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns, was caught by the elements of Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in an entrapment operation while in a restaurant along Tomas Morato.
After three weeks of surveillance, Chief Superintendent Benjamin Magalong, CIDG chief, told reporters in Camp Crame that Sumulong had been introducing himself as a Palace official in various government agencies, including PNP.
”We contacted the Office of the President and we have a certification that he (Sumulong) is not employed there,” Magalong said.
Palace also denied having knowledge on Sumulong’s modus operandi, Magalong added.
Sumulong promised Bureau of Customs broker Mariano Parangue that he would expedite his promotion as Customs Port Commissioner in exchange for P250,000.
Parangue told reporters in Camp Crame that Sumulong was introduced to him by his friend, a certain “Rolly,” who was also interested in Sumulong’s offer.
While having lunch, Parangue said he was shocked when CIDG men started accosting Sumulong.
Saying he had hints that Sumulong was a con, the victim said he had noticed inconsistencies in Sumulong’s statements.
Before the suspect could dupe him thousands of pesos, Parangue admitted to Sumulong that he could not pay such amount.
The Customs brokers also added that Sumulong boasted to him that he was “close” to some cabinet secretaries, including Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II.
“He also told me that sometimes, the President smokes inside his (Sumulong) office,” Parangue said.
Attempt to victimize CIDG
Magalong said Sumulong also preyed on the CIDG office, saying the con artist befriended him “to establish connections.”
“But eventually, we noticed the information he was giving to us are inconsistent. Kaya sinakyan namin ng sinakyan,” Magalong said.
(We just pretended we believed him.)
The CIDG chief said Sumulong will be facing charges of Usurpation of Authority.
“But we are still looking into other possible cases based on the instruments he used to dupe victims,” Magalong said.
Police seized Sumulong’s vehicle, a black Toyota Fortuner, which had interchangeable car plates.
Sumulong uses two vehicle plates, one bearing “6, OPASC,” or a car plate number for cabinet secretaries, while the other is a National Bureau of Investigation commemorative car plate.
Also confiscated from Sumulong were two .45 caliber pistols, handcuff, a fake Malacanang OPASC identification card, firearms licenses and an NBI badge.
Operating in groups
The CIDG chief said Sumulong is not alone in this modus.
Magalong said that before Parangue’s case, the suspect had already extorted P100,000 from another complainant, who refused to be identified.
“They operate in groups. We have also monitored similar cases in Central Luzon and in Batangas,” he added.
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