Alleged Wahana scam founder, companion held

MANILA, Philippines — A woman accused of co-founding the Wahana investment scam, which reportedly stole millions of pesos from investors, was arrested in Quezon City on Monday.

Maria Raissa Yap, 34, was apprehended by agents of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at her hideout in a subdivision in Barangay West Fairview at around 3:45 p.m., according to Col. Randy Glenn Silvio of the CIDG’s National Capital Region field office.

Silvio said the operation stemmed from an intelligence information from their counterparts in the Armed Forces of the Philippines that Yap was hiding in Quezon City.

Police served a warrant of arrest against Yap for 82 counts of estafa without bail. Yap’s companion, Dante Pradas, 46, was arrested on charges of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with a recommended bail of P30,000.

Her husband and alleged co-founder of the Wahana Credit and Loan Corp., former police corporal Michael Yap, was arrested in Baras, Rizal last June 8.

Silvio said some of the couple’s victims are soldiers and police officers who put their money in an investment scheme that turned out to be a scam.

He said one the victims is a policeman who lost P3 million.