COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Police officers arrested KAPA-Community Ministry International, Inc. founder Joel Apolinario in Lingig, Surigao del Sur on Tuesday after reportedly killing one of his bodyguards in a shootout.
In an initial statement, the Surigao del Sur provincial police office said the team dispatched to arrest Apolinario for large-scale syndicated estafa was forced to engage him and his followers in a gunfight when they resisted and opened fire.
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One of Apolinario’s heavily-armed followers was killed on the spot while another, a certain Melecio Siano, was wounded in the encounter, police said.
The operation to arrest Apolinario in Barangay Handayaman in Lingig was launched residents reported his presence in the area.
Apolinario is wanted for setting up the controversial KAPA investment scheme in General Santos City and in nearby provinces of Sarangani and South Cotabato that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered shut down in 2019 for being illegal.
Apolinario's investment racket was said to have collected around P10 billion from unsuspecting investors from across Mindanao from 2016 to 2018. Investors were promised returns on their "donations" at rates that the Securities and Exchange Commission flagged as suspicious.
Apolinario first eluded agents of the National Bureau of Investigation who tried to arrest him in General Santos City in early 2019.
The police team that cornered Apolinario in Barangay Handayaman on Tuesday morning were to serve warrants issued by two Regional Trial Court Judges, Gil Bollozos and Cayalina Shineta Tare-Palacio.
The Surigao del Sur provincial police said the policemen who traded shots with Apolinario and his followers found in their hideout 30 M16 assault rifles, two M4 carbines, an M60 machinegun, and two bolt-action rifles.