Widow loses P.5 M to con artists

MANILA, Philippines - A widowed sewer was victimized by four con artists who duped her into parting with more than P500,000 in cash and jewelry in Caloocan City last Saturday.

“Nanay Bella” (not her real name), 74, resident of Barangay Dagat-dagatan told The STAR in an interview yesterday that she lost P45,000 in cash and several pieces of jewelry she had accumulated since 1960.

“I think I was hypnotized. I am not stupid or naive but I meekly gave away my lifetime savings and valuables,” she said.

The victim said she fell unconscious in dismay and felt she “wanted to die” upon realizing she had been duped by the glib-talking con artists.

PO2 Jonathan David of the Caloocan police station investigation and Detection Management Bureau, said the victim had just deposited P10,000 to her bank account at around 10 a.m. and was walking towards a convenience store in Maypajo, Caloocan City when a man in checkered polo and jeans engaged her in a conversation.

David said the man told the victim that he knows her and one of her relatives, who was a seaman.

A woman approached them at this point, claiming that her husband is in the hospital and needed money for his operation. She said she was selling a water purifying machine for P28,000 and asked the victim if she could help.

The victim agreed and went with the suspects inside an old car. While in the car she was shown a paper bag, with a P500 bill on top of what appeared to be a stack of paper bills. The suspect claimed the bag contained P500,000.

 One of the suspects asked the victim if she could withdraw P25,000 from her bank account.

Nanay Bella agreed and withdrew P45,000, including an extra amount she intended to spend for her birthday next week.

The group invited her to a snack at a popular burger joint. They later dropped her off near her house to get her jewelry, which they promised to buy at a handsome price, and gave her the paper bag with the alleged P.5 million.

When the victim gave her jewelry, the group told her to cook some rice and promised to bring viand, saying they would share a late lunch with her at her house and sped away.

She did as she was told and waited. After an hour, her daughter became suspicious and asked her to open the paper bag.

“There I saw the P500-bill on top of bundles of cut paper. And then I fainted,” she said.