Woman of many aliases dupes tenant of P350K in cash

Have you been victimized by Marivic Ganaban, Aurora Viscara or Bena Jane Hipolito?

A suspected con artist, who used these aliases to milk money from unsuspecting people, was arrested in an entrapment operation in Quezon City last Friday.

In her latest caper, Norberta Gannaban posed as the granddaughter of a landlady, claimed the latter’s apartment was for sale and tricked one of the tenants into paying P350,000.

Gannaban, a resident of Baras, Rizal, was arrested last around 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Novaliches as she collected the payment sent by money transfer to her alias, “Marivic Ganaban,” by her victim, Lilibeth Linaza.

Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) Director Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said that Linaza claimed she lost P350,000 which she sent by money transfer to Gannaban who used different names.

The money was her downpayment for the apartment she was buying supposedly from Arsenia Hipolito.

Posing as Bena Jane Hipolito, the landlady’s granddaughter, Gannaban called up Linaza last June 3 to collect the monthly rent from her. Gannaban later offered to sell her the apartment for P1.5 million, supposedly to pay off her grandmother’s hospital bills.

Linaza, who wanted to buy the apartment, agreed and sent her varying amounts of money. However, she got the shock of her life when her landlady texted her to say that someone—not Gannaban—would be collecting the rent and the apartment was not for sale.

The discovery prompted the victim to seek the help of the ACG, which managed to locate Gannaban’s stall at a market in Novaliches through text messages and with the cooperation of the money transfer service.