Fake ‘GMA-NBI’ team arrested

EXTORTION SUSPECTS (from left): Timothy Tibajia, Robbie Zamora and Victor Lee
PHOTOS FROM QCPD-CIDU

Two men claiming connections to a TV public service program and another posing as an agent of the National Bureau of Investigation were arrested by the police Wednesday for allegedly extorting P100,000 from a businessman in Quezon City.

A trap was set for Timothy James Tibajia (alias Timothy Tibayan) and Robbie Zamora, who both introduced themselves as stringers for GMA network’s “Imbestigador” program, as well as Victor Lee (alias Vince Uy), who posed as an NBI agent.

The three men face charges for robbery-extortion and usurpation of authority on a complaint from Reynaldo Orense, a resident of Barangay Commonwealth who owns a garments and paperbag factory located in his residential compound.

According to the Quezon City Police District, the three suspects went to Orense’s residence Tuesday morning to tell his family that they had a video clip purportedly of minors complaining of maltreatment and other labor law violations in his factory.

Later that day, the suspects and Orense met at a food stall at Wilcon City Center Mall in Barangay Vasra, where the trio allegedly asked for P100,000 so that they would keep the video from being exposed on “Imbestigador.”

The suspects asked Orense to meet them again for the payment at the same place at 3 p.m. the next day. But hours before this appointment on Wednesday, Orense sought help from the QCPD’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU).

A QCPD team seized the trio when they showed up for the second meeting.

Interviewed while in detention, Tibajia denied they asked for money and claimed that they were just “trying to help” and mediate on behalf of the complaining factory workers. He said he only advised Orense to settle the matter with his employees by giving them “financial assistance.”

He said he and Zamora were actually hoping to have a televised “rescue” of the minors who were supposedly “locked up” at the factory. But since they were not able to contact social workers to assist them, they contacted Lee instead.

According to QCPD-CIDU head Chief Insp. Rodelio Marcelo, Tibajia produced a GMA ID but that he could be a former employee of the network. Lee, meanwhile, presented an expired ID purportedly issued by the NBI designating him as a ‘’confidential agent.”

Sought for comment regarding Tibajia and Zamora, GMA senior vice president and “Imbestigador” host Mike Enriquez said: “We immediately checked our roster and we don’t have [those names]. Walang taga-‘Imbestigador’ na gumagawa n’yan. Dinadaan namin sa proseso (Nobody in ‘Imbestigador’ does that. We follow the process).”

Asked if the two suspects were former employees of his program, Enriquez said: “Right now, in fairness, I could not answer that. If ever they were former employees, they should not be doing that.”

He said the GMA legal department is studying the actions the network could take concerning the suspects.

Hearing about the arrests on radio, Arnold Pattugalan, a businessman based in Bulacan province, went to the QCPD-CIDU office on Thursday saying he was also approached by Tibajia.

Pattugalan said Tibajia introduced himself as a GMA newsman to hire his van for ‘’production services” in January. The suspect then presented a service contract, which Pattugalan later considered fake when he inquired with the network and was told that it had no employee by that name.