Woman, 57, loses jewelry to swindlers

CEBU, Philippines – A 57-year-old woman was gypped of her jewelry worth more than P40,000 to a man and two women last Thursday at a fastfood chain along M. C. Briones National Highway in barangay Guizo, Mandaue City.

Tomasita Mohamad, 57, married, and a resident of barangay Poblacion in Liloan town was dining at a fastfood chain at around 2 p.m. when two women befriended her. She said the women identified themselves as Mrs. Roa and Shiela Wong.

The women asked Mohamad if she knew where they could rent a truck. She said that before she could answer, a man who said his name was Lopez told the women he knew a place where they could get a truck.

Lopez then suggested the women leave their bag to Mohamad as a safety measure against snatching.

One the women told Mohamad her bag contained P100,000 in bills and even showed the money to her.

However, the man called Lopez suggested that the women take some of her valuables as guarantee in case she runs away with the money in the bag.

However, the unsuspecting Mohamad said she left her jewelry at home but then one of the women offered her taxi fare to get her jewelry.

She handed over to the women P3,000, an Italian gold necklace worth P14,000, a gold ring worth P13,000, gold earrings valued at P6,000, another gold necklace worth P6,500, and a cellular phone.

In exchange, the women left their bag to Mohamad and told her they would come back for it after an hour.

She said that only after waiting for hours for the group to come back did she realize that she had been duped. The police are on the case. (FREEMAN)