Keeping thieves’ loot gets cop, cohorts charged

Charges have been filed against a Makati policeman and four barangay watchmen after they recovered and then allegedly divided among themselves the money stolen from a Japanese man.

SPO1 Leonard Nazareth, who is assigned at the Makati Police Community Precinct 3, and Barangay Guadalupe Viejo Bantay Bayan members Radislao Alba Jr., Mark Cagatan, Aaron Hechanova and Domingo Guinto were charged with theft at the Makati Prosecutor’s Office.

Except for Nazareth who remains at large, the four other suspects gave themselves up and yielded their share of the loot.

They also pointed to Nazareth as the one who had suggested that they divide the money among themselves.

Supt. Jaime Santos, Makati City Police officer in charge, said he had recommended the filing of an administrative case of grave misconduct against Nazareth.

He added that he had ordered the policeman’s relief and his transfer to the Southern Police District.

An investigation showed that at around 2:10 p.m. on Sept. 17, Japanese national Kunio Nitta, 59, lost his bag which contained 220,000 Japanese Yen (about P124,000) to Gina Aloja and her four cohorts at the City Garden Hotel on Kalayaan Avenue, Makati City.

Aloja was later arrested by the hotel’s security guard. One of her cohorts, Roland Limbug, who escaped in a taxi cab, was also arrested after the taxi driver, Jaime Ranido, tipped him off to the barangay watchmen.

According to the investigation, Nitta’s bag was recovered from Limbug when he was frisked by Alba at the barangay outpost on J. P. Rizal.

“This case could have been a major accomplishment by the Bantay Bayan and SPO1 Nazareth had they immediately surrendered the suspect to the nearest police station together with the recovered evidence for the filing of the case. But instead, all of them, with intent to gain, divided the money involved and kept it,” Santos said.

“Worse, they released the arrested suspect (Limbug), who also got his share of the loot,” he added.

The police investigation showed that Alba and Domingo both yielded 40,000 yen each, while Cagatan and Hechanova surrendered 30,000 yen each.

The policeman and Limbug, on the other hand, got 40,000 yen each.

Santos said that Nazareth’s immediate superior, Chief Insp. Jonathan Villamor, tried but failed to find the policeman and convince him to surrender his share of the loot.