Cebu ‘pickpocket’ tagged in ATM fraud cases

CEBU CITY — One of the three women arrested for allegedly picking pockets inside a mall in Cebu City last Monday was tagged by at least two people as the same person who duped them and withdrew cash from their automated teller machine (ATM) accounts.

Marlyn Roque, 42, a native of Metro Manila, was detained at the Mabolo Police Station along with her two alleged cohorts: Ma. Camille Gliane, 46; and Hanna Conception, 32.

Theft charges were set to be filed against the three suspects at the Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office for pickpocketing.

Roque will face additional charges after she was identified as a suspect in the ATM scam, said Senior Insp. Jacinto Mandal Jr., chief of the Mabolo police station.

“There have been complainants who came to our office. We can’t do anything but to file the appropriate charges against her (Roque),” Mandal said in an interview.

One of the complainants, a university employee in Cebu City, identified Roque as the same person who duped her.

The complainant, who requested anonymity, said she was supposed to withdraw cash from an ATM at a mall in Cebu City last August 6 when her ATM card got stuck inside the machine.

She said Roque volunteered to help her and asked her to press her pin number.

“I didn’t know what to do because I was afraid I won’t be able to get my ATM card and so I heeded her request,” the complainant said.

An hour had passed but she still wasn’t able to get her ATM card.

“I decided to go home and leave my ATM card,” she said.

The complainant later found out that P28,000 was withdrawn from her account.

Mandal urged other victims of the ATM scam to come before their office to identify the suspect. CBB/rga