8 Manila cops wanted for robbery-extortion

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Police District director Rolando Asuncion yesterday ordered the arrest of the head of the MPD’s anti-car theft section and seven of his men after a Pakistani casino financier accused them of arresting and robbing him.

The anti-car theft section’s office at the MPD headquarters was deserted the whole day yesterday, with only two non-uniformed personnel manning it and all police officers assigned to the section nowhere to be found.

Anti-car theft section chief Senior Inspector Rommel Geneblazo as well as Senior Police Officer 1 Gerardo Rivera, Senior Police Officer 1 Michael Dingding, Senior Police Officer 1 Jay Perturbos, Senior Police Officer 1 Jonathan Moreno, Police Officer 2 Renato Ochinang, Police Officer 2 Marvin dela Cruz, and an unidentified police officer are at large, according to investigator PO3 Rodel Benitez.

In his complaint, Kamran Khan Dawood, 39, said he and his Chinese friend Hua Long Wu and four Filipino companions were having a business meeting in the Manila Pavilion hotel around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 19 when the policemen arrived and told them that four vehicles (three Toyota Camry and a Mazda 323) he owned were included in an alert for stolen vehicles.

Dawood said the policemen brought them to the anti-car theft section office at the MPD headquarters along United Nations Avenue and threatened them that they will be charged with kidnapping “if we will not cooperate and fix the problem.”

He said because he and Hua were having a hard time talking to the policemen due to language barriers, the policemen told one of his Filipino friends, Bernardo Cayat, that the problem can be settled if they produce P300,000.

Dawood said he refused to give in to the policemen’s demands because he has documents to prove he owns the vehicles but Hua was intimidated and haggled before finally giving P100,000 to Cayat, who handed the money to the policemen.

He said he sought the help of a policeman assigned in Camp Crame, who accompanied them to the MPD general assignment and investigation section.  The victim identified the policemen through the photos posted at the MPD headquarters.

Innocent?

However, Geneblazo, in an interview with The STAR, denied that they robbed the victims. He said the operation, which started on the night of Sept. 19 and lasted until before dawn the next day, was legitimate.

“As far as we are concerned the complainant is lying to the teeth. The operation was entered into our blotter and the black Camry was included in the alarm of the LTO (Land Transportation Office),” he said.

Told that Asuncion ordered their arrest, Geneblazo said he has not been informed yet but he will show up at a proper time to explain his side.

Dawood “should be specific who received the money. I am open for investigation because we have documents to show that we held those cars for verification,” Geneblazo said.

Questionable practices

Meanwhile, a high-ranking MPD official told The STAR that “the practice of (anti-car theft) operatives of harassing rich individuals with luxury cars had been there for a long time.”

The official said the anti-car theft operatives “deliberately lose all the records” of cases. “Ask them where the records are starting from the former (anti-car theft section) chiefs. Ask them what happened to the CPU of the computer in the office and where the entries are. No one will be able to show you all these things,” he said.

He said there was an instance when the blotter for a recovered car was lost together with the car, “which… they returned it to the (thief) for a certain amount.”

The official identified Rivera as the alleged “point man” for every operation and that “things like these don’t happen without the go-signal of the chief (Geneblazo).”

Another police official of a section where Rivera had been assigned claimed that the policeman served time at the New Bilibid Prison for several cases “and was only allowed to return to service several years ago.”

The source said some anti-car theft operatives arrest casino financiers like Dawood because most of the time, losing players give up their cars to pay for their casino debts.

MPD public information office chief Superintendent Erwin Margarejo said cases will be filed against the entire section and “there will be no sacred cows.”