Metro cops bust 'demolition men'

MANILA, Philippines - The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) has arrested a businessman and two sub-contractors for allegedly swindling their victims of millions of pesos by promising to demolish old structures.

NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales said the suspects – businessman Alfredo Ramos, 65, and subcontractors Arnold Ramos, 50, and Romeo Tugano, 54 – have pending estafa cases before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame.

Three other suspects – engineer Romy Cruz, lawyer Vicente Mellora, and engineer Cresencio Milla – are the subjects of a massive manhunt by the NCRPO.

“We are appealing to other victims of the gang to come forward and file charges against them so they would rot in jail,” Rosales said, noting that initial investigation showed the suspects allegedly bilked people of at least P11 million.

In his complaint, Arcadio Lugod said Alfredo Ramos introduced himself as a governor of Bataan province, influential in many government agencies.

Lugod said he gave Alfredo Ramos an advance of P1 million last Sept. 3 for the demolition of the Millenium Parkplace Condominium buildings A and B at the corner of Road 20 and Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City.

Six days later, Lugod said Alfredo Ramos demanded another P1 million to pay for the immediate issuance and release of the demolition permit from the Quezon City engineering office.

This prompted Lugod to investigate. He met scrap buyers Domingo Ang and Eduardo Pacheco and learned they, too, were alleged swindled by Ramos’ group of P3 million.

Rosales hatched an entrapment operation that resulted in the three suspects’ arrest.

Superintendent Leo Francisco, head of the NCRPO’s regional police intelligence and operations unit (RPIOU) said complainant Roberto Portacio claimed the suspects duped him of P2.9 million while Juan Javier, vice chairman of the Board of Regents of the University of Batangas, said he lost P7 million.

The NCRPO has filed large-scale estafa charges against the six suspects before Manila assistant city prosecutor Rosario Ines-Pinson, who set a bail of P40,000 each for their temporary liberty.