3 nabbed by NBI agents for cellphone card fraud

Two men and a woman were arrested the other day by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation for allegedly defrauding residents of Caloocan and Manila of some P5 million in the sale of cellular phone cards.

The NBI identified the suspects as Maria Jesusa de Jesus, 30, of 603 Marulas A, C-Namie St., Caloocan City; Menandro Acuna, 37, also of the same address, and Celso Angeles, 55, of D-8 Rodriguez, Bayan-Bayanan, Malabon, Metro Manila.

According to the NBI, from August to September this year, De Jesus allegedly represented herself as a supplier of pre-paid Smart and Globe cellular phone cards and offered their prospective victims pre-paid cards at discounted prices.

De Jesus, the NBI added, also allegedly enticed their buyers to recruit other prospective buyers through networking.

According to the NBI, De Jesus told her buyers that they have to make advance payments ranging from P50,000 to P1 million for their orders.

However, according to the NBI, De Jesus failed to deliver the ordered cellphone cards despite receiving the advance payments from her buyers. The victims then sought the help of the NBI after De Jesus reportedly went into hiding. – Mike Frialde