Ex-mayor loses P30-M jewelry, cash to Dugo-Dugo gang

The household of former Malabon City mayor Amado Vicencio lost more than P30 million worth of jewelry and cash to suspected members of Dugo-Dugo gang Thursday.

Police said at around 5:30 p.m., Rubelyn Dionisio, Vicencio’s housemaid for 10 months, received a telephone call from a woman claiming to be Vicencio’s wife, Florenda.

“Florenda,” Dionisio told police, told her she figured in a car accident somewhere in Manila and she was calling from a police station.

Dionisio said the caller also told her that the driver of the car she hit died and she needs a big amount to “settle” the problem.

Dionisio said she followed the caller’s instructions to force open the master’s bedroom, take all the jewelry and cash she could find and deliver them to a mall in Quezon City.

Dionisio said she was met by “Flory” and “Rodolfo,” who told her they represented “Attorney Pascual,” the dead driver’s lawyer.

She said she handed them a bag containing the jewelry and P200,000, after which she was told to go home. She said she was shocked upon seeing the ex-mayor’s wife in the house.

Dionisio said she realized she was victimized by the Dugo-Dugo gang, whose modus operandi involves convincing people that a member of the household had an accident or was in trouble and needed money.

The Vicencios were mum about the incident, but a source said “they don’t buy the maid’s story.” He said most of the lost jewelry was inherited by Vicencio’s wife from her grandparents.

He said Dionisio was invited for questioning by the police and would be subjected to a lie detector test if necessary.