Stolen and found: A car owner’s tale

Twenty-four-year-old Benijo Corcuera could not believe his eyes when he saw his car, which had been stolen more than a month ago, coming out from the parking lot of a condominium unit in Mandaluyong City over the weekend.

The car, a passion orange Honda Civic, was stolen while parked in front his house at M. H. del Pilar street, Barangay Bungad, San Francisco del Monte in Quezon City last April 24.

The Civic which Corcuera saw last Saturday had a different license plate, but he was sure it was his car because of a small dent in the left rear portion. He said the dent was a result of a traffic mishap that happened a few months back.

Without wasting time, Corcuera reported his discovery to Senior Superintendent Cipriano Querol, chief of the Detective and Special Operations Division (DSOD) of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at Camp Crame last Monday.

After sifting through documents of the car owner and finding them in order, Querol formed a team, and, in coordination with the Task Force Limbas of the Traffic Management Group (TMG), arrested Nelson Gemoto, a car buy-and-sell financier.

Gemoto was about to board the car, which was parked in front his house at 664 Sgt. Bumatay street, in Barangay Plainview at 2 p.m. last Monday when he was collared. He did not resist arrest.

Gemoto surrendered to Querol’s men the keys of the car.

During tactical interrogation at Camp Crame, Gemoto said he bought the car, a 1999 model Civic for P100,000 from a certain Eddie, whom he met a month back at the casino in Parañaque City.

He claimed Eddie handed over the car to him on United Nations Avenue in Manila last May 30 without its original official receipt and certificate of registration. Eddie, Gemoto said, told him the car had been pawned to him.

A check with the Vehicle Information Management System (VIMS) of the TMG revealed that the recovered Civic was included in its stolen files with alarm number 2003-0425-185. The incident was reported by Corcuera himself.

Gemoto promised full cooperation in hunting down Eddie, who is believed to be a member of a big-time car theft syndicate operating in Quezon City.

The TMG is set to file appropriate charges against Gemoto with the Mandaluyong City prosecutor’s office. He is currently detained at the TMG jail.

The car has been impounded by TMG operatives and will be returned to Corcuera after the alarm is lifted and all documents are cleared.