2 fake city hall employees nabbed for extort try

MANILA, Philippines - Two men were arrested Friday afternoon for allegedly posing as Quezon City government employees and trying to extort money from a gasoline station’s accounting staff.

John Francis Aguilar, 22; and Bernardino Buhay, 33, allegedly pretended to be employees of the city government’s environmental protection and waste management department, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Senior Superintendent Richard Albano said. 

He said Aguilar was also using an identification card with the name of Ted Michael Cruz, an employee at the department.

Albano said the suspects told Carolina Rayos, an accounting staff of Phoenix gasoline station along Roosevelt Avenue, that the gas station was operating even if its permit was not renewed. They then offered to renew the permit for P6,000.

When Rayos refused, they threatened that they will not process the permit. She called the QCPD, which set up an entrapment operation to arrest the suspects.

Police Officer 3 Jonathan Bustarde said the real Ted Michael Cruz appeared at the police station and filed a complaint against the suspects for using his name in their illegal activity.