Bato wants LBO for ‘rent-sangla’ suspects

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said yesterday he will coordinate with the Department of Justice to have suspects in a multimillion-peso car rental scam put under an immigration lookout bulletin order (LBO) to prevent them from leaving the country.

Rafaela Anunciacion, Eleanor Rosales, Anastacia Cauyan and Jhennel Berroya are in hiding after the arrest of alleged mastermind Tychicus Nambio earlier this month.

Authorities have recovered 457 vehicles that the suspects and their accomplices reportedly rented from their owners and then pawned.

The syndicate operates in Metro Manila, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon, officials said.

Dela Rosa said the target of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) is to recover about 1,800 vehicles, most of them sport utility vehicles that cost more than P1 million each – a total of P1.8 billion.

He said the syndicate’s operations could reach at least P3 billion.

“There is only one group, and its members perfected the scheme. Its operations are now nationwide since the vehicles reached Mindanao,” Dela Rosa said.

He said the 457 vehicles – Mitsubishi Montero Sports and Pajeros; Toyota Fortuners, Innovas and Vioses, all 2016 or 2017 models – were recovered in a series of operations from Feb. 10 to 19 and impounded at Camp Vicente Lim in Laguna.

“The owners were duped by sweet-talking members of the syndicate into lending their vehicles to them,” Dela Rosa said.

The syndicate would then secure loans from unsuspecting individuals or lending institutions  and use the vehicles they rented as collateral, he added.

Dela Rosa instructed the HPG to expedite the processing and release of the recovered vehicles to their rightful owners.