Travel agent nabbed for P.25 million scam

MANILA, Philippines — A travel agent was arrested in Quezon City on Tuesday after she allegedly duped a client of P250,000 in cash.

Arlene Calbonero, 46, was arrested in an entrapment operation at around 3:40 p.m. at a coffee shop along Panay Avenue.

Chief Superintendent Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said the victim, a 47-year-old woman from Barangay Culiat, booked trips with the suspect's Blissful Escapes Travel and Tour agency last January for Los Angeles in the United States to Mexico and Mexico to San Francisco with a planned departure date on April 11.

The victim said she booked tickets for five persons, including her mother, who wished to spend her 80th birthday in Mexico. She was referred to Calbonero by a common friend and communicated with the suspect through the internet and text messages.

She became suspicious when the booking reference numbers for the airline tickets endorsed by the suspect were registered as invalid at the website of Eva Airline.

“It was also discovered that the other bookings of the trip under the name of the complainant was paid,” a police report said.

The victim sent a demand letter to Calbonero on April 10 but instead of fixing the problem, the suspect demanded P120,000 in cash for the booking of their flights.

This prompted the victim to seek the help of the police for an entrapment operation.

Policemen seized the marked money from the suspect. She refused to give a statement to members of the media during a news conference Tuesday night.

Eleazar encouraged people who might have been victims of Calbonero, who is facing charges of estafa, to surface.