Call center official nabbed for ‘bribery’

A ranking official of an outbound call center was accused of attempting to bribe police in exchange for the release of the computer units that were seized in a raid past midnight Thursday.
Ronaldo Honrales, Vice President for External Affairs of the Interface Techno-Phil Inc.(ITPI), went to the office of the PNP-Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) police allegedly carrying P300,000 cash.
Senior Insp. Michael Virtudazo, chief of ACG, said he was preparing the spot report of the raid when Honrales arrived at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Virtudazo said Honrales tried to give him the money and asked that the seized items be released.
Virtudazo said he stepped out of his office for a while and instructed his men to secretly take photos of the alleged bribery attempt.
Virtudazo said when he returned to the office, Honrales again tried to give him the money. It was then that Honrales was arrested.
Honrales was charged with violation of Revised Penal Ccode article 212 or the law against bribery, said Virtudazo.
Charges for violation of Republic Act 8484 also known as the Access Devices Regulation Act were also filed against Honrales and other officers of ITPI.
Also charged were Riyan Manalo, 30; Dennis Cabaguing, 27; Rudolph Espinosa,42; and Erwin Camarines, 29. They are detained at the ACG office at the Cebu Provincial Police Office in barangay Sudlon, Cebu City.
The charges were filed yesterday before prosecutor’s office.
Police raided the call center after five employees tipped off the police that the company was involved in an Internet scam.
Police said the company allegedly enticed their customers mostly Americans to join the Waka Network Savings.
Police said the customers were asked to sign up for $2.99. In return, the customers will be given gift cards amounting to as much as $100 dollars worth of gift cards from Walmart.
The informants told police no gift cards will be given after the customers made the payment through credit cards.
At least 300 central processing units (CPUs) and computer monitors were seized by police during the raid.
Glenn Villariza, the company’s legal counsel, said Honrales denied bribing the police official.
Honrales claimed that the money was for his co-workers’ bail and mistakenly handed it over to Virtudazo
Villariza denied that the company was engaged in illegal activities.
“We have been in the business for three years now. How could my client be involved in a scam if they are doing their business in front of Ayala Mall? Why not do scam in the mountains or in the cave?” Villariza said.
ITPI is located on the second floor of the Keppel Building at the Cebu Business Park in barangay Luz, Cebu City.