School guard nabbed for extortion

MANILA, Philippines - A security guard detailed at the San Beda College in Manila was arrested over the weekend after he allegedly tried to extort money from an American theft victim for the return of his stolen credit cards.

Ariesty Pascual, 24, of AGF Security Agency, was nabbed after he received marked money from complainants David Homes, 43, and his Filipina fiancée Annalie Paulo.

Recovered from Pascual’s possession were the marked money and Homes’ two credit cards.

The complainants told Chief Inspector Froilan Uy, chief of the General Assignment Section of the Manila Police District, that they were in the San Beda Church on Maundy Thursday when Homes noticed that his wallet containing P10,000 and credit cards were missing. The couple reported the incident to Pascual, who was then detailed at the school gate.

The following day, Paulo received a text message from Pascual informing them that he has Homes’ credit cards but demanded P5,000 and two cellular phones in exchange for them. Homes told police he was so worried because his credit cards could be used to withdraw millions of pesos.

During interrogation, Pascual remained silent on how he got Homes’ credit cards. Pascual was charged with robbery-extortion.   – Nestor Etolle