Man nabbed for using Belmonte’s name to dupe US visa applicants

MANILA, Philippines - A man illegally using the name of House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to help applicants facilitate their visas for the United States in exchange for P250,000 was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday morning.

Jonn Dadan, identified as Jonn Belmonte in his driver’s license, was arrested based on a pending warrant issued against him by a court in Mindanao for duping someone of P2 million.

Dadan was collared inside a Dodge Charger vehicle near a hotel in Ermita, Manila. Agents from the NBI anti-fraud division found two driver’s license cards inside the car.

Aside from a driver’s license bearing the surname Belmonte, Dadan had another license card with the name Miguel Anthony Dy Pangilinan. He also has ATM and credit cards under both names, and a car plate with the number “8,” which is issued to congressmen.

“Dadan’s violation is falsification of documents. He facilitated the recruitment of applicants and provided them fake documents so they may get a tourist visa,” said lawyer Cesar Bacani, head of the NBI anti-fraud division.

In a separate interview, lawyer Renato Garbo, the division’s deputy officer, said Dadan has been operating for more than a year now and was able to successfully process the visa of at least eight people.

Garbo added that Dadan used to work for Belmonte.

Dadan allegedly kept and reproduced papers with Belmonte’s letterhead and used them as endorsement letters for the US embassy, claiming that the House Speaker himself endorsed his clients.

Belmonte denied participation in such activities. In fact, it was Belmonte who “reported (Dadan’s) activities to us,” Bacani said.

In a separate interview with reporters, Dadan, who covered his face with a blue coat, admitted that he indeed facilitated applicants’ papers but denied using government officials to his advantage.

He claimed that aside from helping the “victims” with their documents, he was also able to tweak computer codes embedded on the US embassy’s website.

He said that after he studied the embassy’s computer program, he discovered some flaws and found ways to go around it.

The suspect, who wore branded clothes and even underwear and jewelry, said he resorted to fraud because he wanted to help his clients.

His clients, Dadan explained, are mostly children of Filipinos who were illegally overstaying in the US.

Most of them wanted to be reunited with their families, he claimed.