Too many scam artists

This latest high society jewelry heist is another indication of the growing number of scams happening in the Philippines. Even before the whole thing became a full-blown scandal, rumors have been quietly brewing in Manila Society circles about this well-connected woman who has duped a number of society ladies of hundreds of millions worth of jewelry. According to some victims, they entrusted their jewelry to Marilen Guisande, a former Chief of Staff of socialite Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas who was supposed to sell the items for a commission. Guisande -– who has been named in the complaints filed before the Department of Justice – was supposed to return the jewelry in the event these were not sold. Guisande initially turned in check payments in the early part of her transactions, after which the victims would give her more items to sell.

But unknown to the ladies, the 47-year-old woman was disposing of the items in pawnshops for quick cash and would sell the pawn tickets for more money. The victims only got wind of the elaborate scheme when post-dated checks issued by Guisande supposedly as payment for the jewelry items started bouncing. One of the victims, diplomat Agnes Huibonhoa, reportedly saw one of her missing jewelry on the neck of another socialite in one party. Apparently, the socialite bought the missing piece from a pawnshop that has been selling an entire lot of previously-owned jewelry.

But what’s even more disturbing are suspicions that some influential people are supposedly behind the scam and in fact, may have been the brains behind the whole operation. Senator Loren Legarda is correct in urging an investigation on the possible culpability of pawnshop owners who may be colluding with thieves or swindlers, accepting jewelry without even bothering to authenticate the ownership of pawned items.

We’re supposed to have a lot of laws against fencing and estafa to protect victims from elaborate scams but unfortunately, it’s the big fish who usually get away. Remember Singaporean Michael Liew of Performance Investments Products Corp. or PIPC who duped a lot of rich people by promising huge returns on their money? Well, he’s still missing and so are some of his cohorts who had fled the country and are reportedly living it up abroad.

The fact of the matter is, there are so many scam artists who have wiggled their way into high society, capitalizing on their reputations and connections to hoodwink businessmen, celebrities and other wealthy people. Wall Street whiz Bernard Madoff launched a $65-billion Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors over the years, promising fantastically high returns for investments. People trusted him because he was a well-known philanthropist and a former executive of the NASDAQ stock exchange.

As is often the case with Ponzi (and typical pyramiding) schemes, the “returns” given to early investors come from the money placed by subsequent investors – which eventually causes the pyramid to collapse since the scheme requires an ever-increasing amount of investments to keep the money flowing. Madoff, who has pleaded guilty to an 11-count criminal complaint (which includes securities fraud and money laundering), will be sentenced on June 29 and faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.

Bernie Madoff launched the biggest heist ever committed by a single individual, believed to have contributed to the financial mess in the US that has now infected the rest of the world. While the scandal has made people more vigilant and is keeping the US Securities and Exchange Commission up on its toes to spot other fraudulent activities, it doesn’t look like the world is about to see the end of Madoff and his ilk.  Just recently, a 64-year-old Briton was accused of operating a Ponzi scam that has deceived investors into handing over millions of pounds. Robert Tringham promised annual returns of as much as 30 percent to investors but instead, used the money to buy houses and big cars.

Even in China, reports are starting to trickle about hundreds of thousands of Chinese that have been tricked into joining get-rich-quick business schemes, selling their houses and obtaining loans from banks to invest in fraudulent transactions. In fact, many of these victims are even said to be university students whose fears of a dwindling job market make them susceptible to swindlers who promise quick and huge returns on their money.

The advent of technology has also made it easy for swindlers to engage in elaborate con jobs, like the Nigerian letter scam sent through email asking for assistance to withdraw millions from a bank, for which the victim would be promised a cut of 40 percent. The victim would be asked to advance certain transaction fees and reveal details of his bank account for the transfer. The Nigerian letter scam has been going around for decades but surprisingly, a lot of people still fall for it to this day. Over the years, a lot of variations have been made such as the Black Money Scam (currently being investigated by Malaysian authorities). Random emails or text message would be sent about a pile of US dollars that have been dyed black to avoid detection at Customs. The con artists would then ask the victim to buy certain chemicals to wash off the dye and offer to meet in a hotel to authenticate the existence of the notes, employing “sleight of hand” to substitute the black banknote with real money without the victim noticing the trick.

But the worst kind of swindlers are those who victimize small people of their hard-earned money, very much like the Legacy scandal that has shattered the dreams of so many parents and cheated the children of their future. More than Senate investigations or the crafting of new laws, authorities must make sure that these scam artists are made to pay for their crimes, locked away to keep others from getting victimized by these opportunists and vultures once again.

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