A jewelry scam

The Senate had stepped into yet another brewing scandal. This controversy is one that does not involve any national interest but quite a number of big names in Philippine society figured prominently. Or should I say notoriety because they were caught in a new scam that victimized entrepreneurs who are new in the jewelry business.

The multi-million peso jewelry scam centered around Ma. Elena So Guisande, the chief-of-staff of Makati City’s well-heeled philanthropist and socialite Rosemarie “Baby” Arenas. Implicated as alleged cohorts in this jewelry scam were Guisande’s husband Antonio Vicente, siblings John So, Maria Melitona Sanches, Joanne Villena and some of her employees.

Among the victims of this “high-society” jewelry scam include our Philippine Honorary Consul to Gambia, Agnes T. Huibonhoa who claims to have lost some P15.8 million to the scheme. The diplomat and three fellow complainants filed syndicated estafa charges against Guisande before the Department of Justice and the San Juan Prosecutor’s Office. In her estafa complaint before the DOJ, Huibonhoa accused Guisande of allegedly fooling her into investing P10 million in cash that she gave her on top of very expensive jewelry out of which she was promised to earn so much in return.

According to Huibonhoa, she accepted Guisande as a sales agent and delivered pieces of jewelry at her condo unit in Makati City. This was after they started their buy and sell business sometime in April last year when she, along with Ms.Arenas bought several pieces of jewelry during their trip together in Bangkok. Huibonhoa and Ms. Arenas know each other very well since they move around the same circle of “high society” matrons. In fact, she calls her “Tita Baby” out of respect.

At first, Huibonhoa recalled they have good business relations. The jewelry items she gave to Guisande were sold and she got back her money plus profit. They had good business deals that she was lured into investing cash amounting to P10 million. However, she started to sense something wrong was going on when Guisande’s checks started to bounce late last year.   

She found out to her dismay that Guisande has all along been deceiving her in January 2009. She learned that some of the jewelry she had entrusted to her were pawned in three different pawnshops without her knowing nor consenting to it. Summed up, the total value of the items pawned amounted to P15.87 million but Huibonhoa never got a single cent out of these transactions.

Huibonhoa discovered that Guisande allegedly pawned the jewelry items she was supposed to sell for her but again pawns the pawn ticket for more money she used to pay to her other principals, or fund her postdated checks to obviously further induce her other victims to continue transacting with her.

She said she would not have taken this matter before official authorities had her “Tita Baby” took efforts to help her make Guisande settle her claims. Instead, Huibonhoa started to receive threatening calls and messages. She could not, however, identify the source of threats.

When their case started to come out in media, including in gossip columns, Ms.Arenas issued a brief statement saying: “I am deeply saddened that my former chief-of-staff has been involved in the alleged jewelry scam involving prominent personalities. Unfortunately, my name has been dragged in this controversy of which I had no personal knowledge or involvement until reports started appearing in the media.”

The Makati socialite — popularly called "Baby A." among her friends — rose to national prominence during the administration of former President Fidel V. Ramos. She ran but lost as opposition senatorial candidate in the May, 1995 elections. Her daughter Rachel is much luckier in her foray to politics. She won in her congressional district in Pangasinan. Both mother and daughter are favorite travelling companions of President Arroyo in many of her trips here and abroad.

Huibonhoa insisted Ms.Arenas cannot dissociate herself from Guisande since she was the one vouching for her all this time. Faced with formidable adversary, Huibonhoa brought their cases before the Senate to prevent this scam to continue to victimize other people. That is why they were very thankful to the office of Sen. Loren Legarda for taking up the cudgels for them.

Legarda filed a Senate Resolution that sought an inquiry in aid of legislation to check the proliferation of neighborhood pawnshops and so-called financial agents that have been openly engaged in legitimate but devious activities and committing abuses in violation of existing Philippine laws.

 To this end, Legarda prodded her colleagues in Congress to legislate an amendment to PD 114 that regulates the establishment and operation of pawnshops, and to formulate a measure that would protect investors in related businesses.

After this “high society” jewelry scandal was exposed at the Senate last week, more victims of the same kind of modus operandi came out. They trooped to the Senate in support of Legarda’s campaign to help protect Filipinos from such scams using pawnshops as base of their operations.

Legarda hit the modus operandi of people like Guisande who prey on unsuspecting members of the community. She noted that Guisande, assisted by her cohorts, pawns trays and trays of jewelry in exchange for quick cash, at allegedly conspiring pawnshops which do not even bother to verify or establish the ownership of these pieces of jewelry.

“There is a need to take a closer look into the operations of the pawnshop business. Moreover, it is not only these pawnshops that would be prevented from committing a violation of the law but those individuals as well, who buy, at ridiculously low prices, these pieces of jewelry fraudulently acquired by potential Marilen Guisandes in our society,” Legarda fumed. 

Legarda is righteously “appalled” that these shady characters go scot-free with their nefarious trade. “How can these unscrupulous persons perpetuate these stunts with impunity? How could they possess the ability to do all of these fraudulent and deceitful business practices? They must be put to stop!” she vowed.

With such fighting words, we could expect fireworks at the Senate when these big names in “high society” are summoned to shed light on this jewelry scam.