PAOCC: Car loan scam targets teachers

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmen are looking for members of a criminal syndicate who allegedly stole around 60 to 80 vehicles in a car loan scam that victimized teachers from Central Luzon and Metro Manila.

Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, executive director of the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission, yesterday urged other teachers who may have fallen victims to the group to report to the PAOCC and police stations.

“Don’t wait for and don’t believe promises by this syndicate to return your money and turn over your vehicle,” he said in Filipino during a news briefing at Camp Crame.

At least 20 teachers from Quezon City and the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan have filed complaints against members of the syndicate for estafa and car theft.

Cruz said the syndicate has about 12 members, led by a businessman whom he refused to identify.

“We are looking at 60 cases of this kind of modus operandi,” he said.

Under the scheme, the suspects convince the victims to apply for a car loan, assuring them that the processing will be quick for as long as they entrust their identification cards and other documents with the suspects.

The suspects then ask their target to either enrol their vehicle in a ride-hailing app or a rent-a-car business to earn extra money.

To sweeten the pot, the suspects give the victim a monthly income ranging from P5,000 to P10,000.

However, the teachers were unaware that their vehicles were sold by the syndicate under a pasalo scheme.

In cases where the victims backed out of the transaction, the suspects still applied for a car loan with banking institutions using documents with their forged signatures.

Cruz said the syndicate may have accomplices in banking institutions and among car agents.

The PAOCC and other law enforcement agencies have so far recovered eight vehicles.