Fake GMA-7 worker nabbed for swindling

A 31-year-old woman who has allegedly swindled several persons by introducing herself as an employee of GMA-7 radio and television network was arrested by the Manila police in an entrapment operation in Ermita yesterday.

Superintendent Eleazar Matta, chief of the General Assignment Section (GAS) of the Manila Police District, identified the suspect as Donabel Unlayao, a native of Iloilo and with no permanent city address.

Unlayao yielded a GMA-7 identification card she “manufactured” at an Internet shop. According to Matta, Unlayao was able to gain the trust and confidence of her victims by representing herself as a bona fide GMA-7 employee.

Unlayao’s arrest stemmed from a complaint filed by Tondo trader Lucille Montejo, 35, who said she met the suspect through a friend in Iloilo.

Montejo said she received text messages from her friend in Ilo­ ilo asking for a total of P15,000, all to be given to Unlayao.

Montejo said she also entrusted Unlayao with eight boxes of a “wellness drink” worth P48,000 after her Iloilo-based friend texted her asking for it.

Montejo said the last time she saw the suspect, she had entrusted Unlayao with a P60,000 laptop for reformatting and a cell phone. She later learned that it was Unlayao texting her all along, not her friend in Iloilo.

Senior Police Officer 4 Jess Magat, chief of GAS follow-up team, instructed Montejo to contact Unlayao and pretend that she needs the laptop immediately in exchange for cash. The meeting was set at a shopping mall in Ermita, where the police made the arrest.

Appropriate charges are being prepared against the suspect.      — Nestor Etolle