NBI nabs 4 women for fake gov’t IDs

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Four women were apprehended Thursday by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in an entrapment operation after they allegedly tried to make a loan by using fake government identification cards.

NBI special agent Arnel Pura identified the suspects as Marites De Leon of San Enrique, Negros Occidental; Marivic Parreño of Barangay 29 in Bacolod City; Andrea Panes of Cadiz City; and Cristina Dela Peña of Taloc village in Bago City.

Pura said three suspects—De Leon, Panes and Dela Peña—tried to file for a loan of P200,000 each from a lending firm, claiming there were pensioners of the Social Security System, but they were found to be using counterfeit government IDs.

He said the IDs—Bureau of Internal Revenue, PhilHealth, Postal and SSS—in the possession of the suspects were fake after verified by these national agencies.

Upon getting the certifications from these agencies, the NBI conducted an entrapment operation against the suspects at a fastfood chain at Lacson Street in Bacolod City.

The three suspects were eventually apprehended, but Parreño, the fourth one, did not file for a loan although she was with the former during the entrapment. Recovered from her were also fake Postal and PhilHealth IDs.

Pura said the four suspects now in NBI custody, are facing charges on attempted estafa through falsification of public documents.