Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 11) — A person pretending to be Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos was presented to the media on Tuesday after he allegedly scammed government workers of at least ₱150,000.
Abalos himself presented the suspect, but did not give his name.To perpetrate the fraud, Abalos said the suspect would imitate his voice when reaching out to government officials to ask for money.
“Gigil na gigil na ‘ko sa taong ihaharap ko sa inyo dahil ang taong ‘to ay ginagaya ang boses ko at ang dami nang naloko,” Abalos said, and cautioned people against falling for such schemes.
“Kung may manghihingi sa inyo ng pera, hindi ho ako marunong manghingi ng pera. Huwag kayong maniniwala,” he also said.
[Translation: I am peeved by this person because he imitated my voice and fooled a lot of people. I am not in the habit of asking people for money, don’t fall for these scams.]
Authorities said the suspect’s family members’ were also involved in the scam.
“‘Yung pinaka-hepe nila, may pending robbery case,” said DILG Office of Internal Security legal officer Benjamin Tan. “In fact, kaka-check lang namin a while ago, at large siya ngayon at hindi ina-attend-an ‘yung hearing niya. ‘Yun daw ‘yung nagbibigay nung instruction du’n sa parang tita nila.”
[Translation: Their head has a pending robbery case. In fact, we checked just a while ago and that person is at large and has not been attending hearings. That person was the one who gave instructions to their aunt.]
The suspect was arrested during an entrapment operation on Dec. 7 in Lingayen, Pangasinan.
Cases of identity theft under the cybercrime law, estafa, and spoofing under the SIM Registration Act were filed against the suspect before the Lingayen cybercrime court.
