Alleged franchise fixer arrested in Mandaue City

Police arrested a suspected fixer operating in the Mandaue City office of the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board after a vehicle owner complained after he was given the photocopied document of the franchise of his PUJ instead of the original one.

The suspect was identified as Franklin Catostos who was collared during an entrapment operation led by Insp. Michael Anthony Bastes of the Theft and Robbery Section of the Cebu City Police Office.

Bastes told The Freeman that a certain Henry Zanoria complained to their office that he was swindled by the suspect.

The victim reportedly paid him P90,000 on installment basis since June this year to take care of the franchise papers of his three passenger vehicles.

But when the suspect gave him the franchise document, he noticed that it was not the original copy prompting him to go to the LTFRB-Mandaue to ask if it was authentic and later found that it was not.

Because of this he immediately went to the TRS to file complaints against the suspect. He later called on the suspect to hand him the original copy of the franchise but the suspect immediately demanded an additional P3,000 for processing.

This gave the TRS operatives time to set the entrapment last Thursday noon. The suspect told Zanoria to meet him in a lechon store in barangay Mabolo but later changed the venue to another branch of the same store located along A.C. Cortes Street in Mandaue City.

There, policemen led by Bastes posted themselves near the pay-off point. After Catostos received the money he was immediately arrested by the victim assisted by the TRS.

Bastes said that since Friday three more victims have identified Catostos as the one they had given money to take care of their respective applications for passenger vehicle franchises.

The other in complainants were identified as Judith Ogabang of B. Rodriguez Street and Rother Malolot and Danny Jemino, of barangay Maribago Uno in Lapu-Lapu City.

Bastes said that Ogabang paid Catostos P37,000 for the franchise of her PUJ but it was not processed while Malolot paid P50,000 to the suspect for the franchise of his taxi unit but found out that he was swindled when the suspect just gave him a hand-written receipt last year.

Jemino claimed he was the most affected because his children stopped going to school so he could pay the P30,000 Catostos asked for his PUJ franchise, Bastes said.

"Luoy ni si Jemino kay nagsalig ra sa iyang multicab, usa ka tuig na kuno nga wala makapasahero mao ra ba ni iyang gisaligan pagpaeskwela sa iyang mga anak," Bastes added.

TRS will be filing charges against the suspect today before the Mandaue City Prosecutor's Office. - Edwin Ian Melecio