Con man charged

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday filed charges against an alleged con man who reportedly bilked a British businessman and his Filipino partner of more than P600,000.

Joseph Cubelo, a resident of Multinational Village, Parañaque City, purportedly introduced as a classmate and close friend of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and the chief legal officer of Congressional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs of the House of the Representatives to gain the trust of British national Brian Young of Maybunga, Pasig City and Filipino businessman Leonardo Bhagwani of Multinational Village, Parañaque City.

NBI-National Capital Region Regional Director Ruel Lasala charged Cubelo with estafa and usurpation of authority before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office.

In June 2005, Cubelo claimed he has connections in Malacañang and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to convince Young and Bhagwani to buy two companies: the Mercury Dual Line and Hydrosystech Inc., which was previously into water treatment but later became a supplier of janitorial services to NAIA.

He also said he had friends at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who could be contracted for the purchase of the said companies.

The businessmen bought the companies for $4,000 each and Cubelo said he would pay only $1,000 since he was a working business partner. He, however, was not able to come up with the money.

Although Young, Bhagwani and another business partner, Geoffrey Malcolm Bradley, paid in full for the two companies, only Hydrosystech Inc. was actually turned over to them. The other company, Mercury Dual Line, allegedly remained under the control of the suspect’s common-law wife, Arlene Alcaraz.

In August 2005, Cubelo demanded P75,000 from the victims, saying he would use the money for the writing of history of the two companies. He added that he needed an extra P35,000 for the business permits, and P25,000 for the payment of the city taxes.

This came as a surprise to the complainants since they were told that they bought a "clean" company and there would be no further obligations on their part. The payments were made at the Old Manila Club in Makati City and to Cubelo’s account in Equitable PCI Bank.

The complainants, believing "that they were bleeding money and supporting Cubelo’s extravagant lifestyle," decided to seek the assistance of the NBI-NCR through Special Investigator Allan Lino.

According to the verifications made by the NBI-NCR, Cubelo is not a member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), nor is he listed in the past and present list of employees of the House of Representatives. They also confirmed that he has not been employed with the Manila International Airport Authority. – With Theo Agcaoili