Confessed embezzler turned murderer arrested

MANILA, Philippines - Police arrested a fugitive who confessed to embezzling P70,000 from a call center where he worked, then killing a co-employee sent to investigate him.

The suspect, Lucky Galinea, 25, used a different name and grew his hair long to escape punishment for the killing of Antonio Tan Jr., 29, an anti-fraud officer of E-Telecare Global Solution in Makati City.

“He posed as a band member and started a new life. He’s been hoping from one place to another in Mindanao island to escape the law,” said National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Leocadio Santiago.

Tan went to the house of Galinea and his wife, Geralyn, in Bulacan in August last year to collect the P70,000 Lucky reportedly embezzled in their office.

The couple offered Tan liquor and apparently killed him during a drinking session. Tan’s body was recovered inside his red Toyota Vios (XKS-838), which was parked along McArthur Highway in Marulas, Valenzuela City on Aug. 10, 2009.

Geralyn was arrested by the NCRPO’s anti-fraud division in Tondo, Manila on Oct. 7, 2009. Lucky managed to escape.

The NCRPO filed murder charges against the Galinea couple before the Malolos City regional trial court, which recently issued an arrest warrant against Lucky.

De Jesus said Lucky – who used the alias Lex Valencia Martin when he joined a band as a guitarist – fled to Zamboanga City and then went to Cagayan de Oro City, where he was arrested in an entrapment operation.

Superintendent Remus Medina, who heads the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operations unit that arrested Lucky, said the suspect admitted his crime and is currently detained at the RPIOU detention center pending his turnover to the Malolos police.