Man in Davao scam found dead in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines —  A man who was in the middle of an alleged pyramiding scam in Davao City was found dead in the western town of Balamban in Cebu Tuesday night.

The man’s hands were tied and his head was wrapped in boxer shorts when found past 9 p.m. in Barangay Casumoroy.

“Naay large scale estafa nga na-file didto sa Davao. Pero bag-o pa na-file ang case, mga August pa (A case for large scale estafa was filed in Davao just recently in August),” said Balamban Station chief Christian Torres, following confirmation from the Davao Police.

Identified as Armando Bernaldez Oppus, 34, the man was reportedly a resident of Davao City and was CEO of Crowd Royals Real Estate, a company that reportedly dealt with cars.

It was around 9 p.m. when the Balamban Police received a call about a dead body in Barangay Casumoroy.

The body has gunshot wounds on the head and chest.        

A few meters from the body, scene of the crime operatives found four empty bullets of a .45 pistol.

Police identified Oppus based on documents recovered from a vehicle that fell off a cliff and caught fire in neighboring barangay Sunog.

“Nahagbong man tong sakyanan sa pampang… naay nangatagak nga mga papeles; mao tung passport ug driver’s license (The vehicle fell off the cliff and several documents fell off it, including a passport and driver’s license),” Torres said.

Torres said they will try to contact Oppus’ family to confirm the man’s identity further.

The police were notified of the car just a few minutes after they examined the dead body in Barangay Casumoroy.

“Naa pa man mi sa crime scene sa katong patay… among natandi sa SOCO na ang katong tawhana, katong driver’s license atong sakyanan na nasunog ug passport nga na-recover didto mao tung na connect namo na katung tawhana mao to iyang license ug passport (The body was still at the crime scene so we were able to compare based on the driver’s license and passport, and we were able to connect),” Torres said.

Oppus and his family reportedly abandoned their house in Davao. Police said it is possible that he was evading arrest and tried to escape via Cebu. —  JMO (FREEMAN)