Sweet-talking con artist nabbed by NBI

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested last Wednesday a glib-tongued female alleged to be a con artist who duped several beneficiaries of war veteran pensioners.

Suspect Alma Garcia, 37, of Sta. Cruz, Lubao, Pampanga and presently residing in San Dionisio, Parañaque City, was arrested by agents of the Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) led by lawyer Elfren Meneses.

According to the NBI, the suspect’s operations were exposed after the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) requested the bureau to conduct an investigation on the complaint of a certain Lydia Cobarubias.

AFCCD chief Elfren Meneses said that Cobarubias met Garcia in Lubao, Pampanga, last year. According to Cobarubias, Garcia told her that she would be able to process the pension documents of her parents, who are World War Two veterans with the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) and the United States Veterans Affairs Office (USVAO).

Cobarubias told the NBI that Garcia demanded money from her and presented documents purportedly from PVAO to justify her collections. The suspect also told Cobarubias that a certain Grace Isidro is her contact at the PVAO which is located at Camp Aguinaldo.

But when she verified the suspect’s documents with the PVAO, Cobarubias learned that Garcia is not authorized to transact business with the agency. When she talked to Isidro, the latter also denied knowing Garcia.

Isidro also told the victim that no applications for old age pension were filed for her parents at the PVAO. The NBI also later learned that the supposed pension check given by Garcia to Cobarubias was not issued to the victim’s parents but to a certain Marcel Baydan.

Last Oct. 16, the suspect again demanded P25,000 from the victim for the alleged transfer of the USVAO application to the victim‘s sister. It was at this point that the victim sought the help of the NBI which immediately set-up an entrapment.

On October 20, the victim’s cousin Rosalie Manuel went to a fastfood chain in Baclaran to delver the cash to the suspect. NBI agents arrested the suspect as soon as she touched the marked cash. Garcia is now detained at the NBI detention center on estafa charges.