17 stores in Metro Cebu hit by con artists

Con artists took advantage of the long weekend before the May 13 election and purchased P6 million worth of supplies from at least 17 stores in Metro Cebu.

The swindlers disappeared after leaving checks that turned out to be worthless.

By then deliveries were already made to a rented house in Lapu-Lapu city for construction materials, copying machines, toiletries, roller blinds and even processed meat. All that was also gone.

Lapu-Lapu city police said they would have cartographic sketches made of the suspects. One man used the name Aljohn Abrenica and had a female companion, Faith Booc Baya, but police said the names were probably fake.

Suppliers had accepted check payments on a Friday or Saturday then found out after the weekend that the accounts in China Bank and Malayan Bank for the post-dated checks were already closed.

Store owners filed complaints for estafa with the Lapu-Lapu police since the customers were renting a house in Casa Nuestra, barangay Bangkal.

It was too late. The couple was already gone when store representatives came looking for them in Lapu-Lapu.

Cebu Daily News learned from one of the victims, Miguel Juan del Gallego whose staff in De Galen Corp. sold P64,000 worth of construction hard hats, that another couple transacted with the stores using the same modus.

He said a photo of one of the two women con-artists was later recovered and given to the police. The photo was submitted in an application she had filed for a female direct-selling network in Lapu-Lapu.

“The con artists spoke in Tagalog and English with an Ilonggo accent,” he said, based on observations of owners and personnel of other victimized stores.

The swindlers started negotiating with stores on May 8 and placed initial orders for a small volume of goods to earn the trust of the stores. Payment was made with funded checks.

Deliveries were then made to the rented house in Lapu-Lapu city and BT Rama General Merchandise in barangay Bangkal.

On the second transaction, bulk orders were made. Post-dated checks were issued on Friday afternoon or Saturday.

Since Monday was the May 13 election and a holiday, store representatives had to wait for the next banking day on Tuesday or a few days later for checks to clear.

By then it was too late. They found out that bank accounts were cleaned out and closed.

“Ni-kompyansa ra mi kay naka deliver naman mi niya kausa mao nga gidawat namo ang check,pagka lunes na mi ni verify sa bangko,” said John Carl Banusong, 28, a salesman of LCG Marketing in Pakna-an, Mandaue.

(We were complacent about the order because we were able to deliver an order to them once. That’s why we accepted the check. By Monday, we went to verify with the bank.)

He said the suspect Faith Baya called their office to order Johnson and Johnson products to be delivered to her house in Lapu-Lapu city. Since she had transacted with them earlier on May 8, they went ahead with the sale.

Business representatives started going to the Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office on May 17 to report the fraud.

They decided to file estafa complaints. Not all victims, however, are pressing charges, like del Gallego, who said he had a frustrating experience before going after a swindler, who was able to post bail and go free.

Insp. Jose Nilo Abello, chief of the TRS, said the police could no longer locate the suspected couple in their rented house. He warned stores to be vigilant about accepting check payments.