2 women nabbed for poisoning Tsinoy families

Police stumbled onto a syndicate preying uponChinese-Filipino households yesterday with the arrest of two women whose modus operandi is to apply for work as a housemaid then poison and rob their employers.

The arrest of Anamie Livrando, 30, of Project 7, Quezon City was brought about by text messages following the release of sketches of the maid to the public, according to Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut, who personally arrested Livrando at her residence. Livrando’s alleged cohort, Rita Manabat, happened to be at the same place at the time of the arrest, Yabut added.

Recovered from Livrando’s possession were P8,000 she said was her share in their last hit; a wad of crisp P5 bills that her victim, Vina Sy, identified as hers; and several credit and automated teller machine cards. Yabut said Livrando tried to bribe him during her arrest. 

Livrando pointed to Manabat as their leader who divides the loot among the members of the group, which also includes three other women. Livrando said Manabat looks for her prospective employer, especially among Chinese-Filipino families, and provides her with the poison. She said she receives a 10-percent share of the loot.

She added she is not familiar with the poison, which she said looks like a piece of alum crystal. She pounds the poison into a powder and mixes it with the food or drink she gives her victims.

Livrando’s victims trooped to the police station upon learning of her arrest yesterday and identified her as the housemaid who poisoned and robbed them.

Livrando said she started with the syndicate last January, when her canteen business went bankrupt. She said Manabat was a former customer who enticed her to join the group.

Livrando said Manabat and her companions would wait for her several meters way from the house of her employer-victim and assist in her escape.

However, Manabat vehemently denied Livrando’s allegations and claimed she was only a buyer of jewelry Livrando offered for sale. The two women almost came to blows when they were presented to the media.    

One of the complainants, whose son had been at the intensive care unit for 10 days after eating food prepared by Livrando, said a doctor told him that a type of pesticide was mixed with the food.

Yabut advised families to secure a police clearance from walk-in maid applicants.