Woman takes P15M, faces estafa

CEBU, Philippines - "I am too naive."

Guillerma Lim, a resident of Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, said this to the media yesterday, adding that she doesn't know if she can trust people again after losing more than P15 million to alleged con artists.

Last Friday, the National Bureau of Investigation-7 arrested Jacquiline Guerrero, a resident of Barangay Malabang, Parang, Agono, Rizal during an entrapment operation inside the house of Lim.

Lim earlier went to the NBI to ask for assistance after learning that Guerrero fooled her into believing she had inherited a lot in Tacloban City from their late grandmother, Paciencia Paredes-Villanueva.

"Guerrero identified herself to the complainant as a doctor of medicine specializing in oby-gyn collected large sums of money from her in the pretense of processing of the documents of a real estate property inheritance, litigation expenses and taxes which turned out to be imaginary," the transmittal read.

Lim, who used to work as a medical researcher, alleged that Guerrero "continuously extorted money" from her amounting to P15,424,400 used for the processing of documents, real estate taxes, attorney's fees and litigation expenses.

In her complaint, she alleged that the 12-hectare property which was allegedly owned by their late grandmother was presently occupied by the Unimaster Conglomeration Corporation Inc.

"Guerrero made false pretenses which led Guillerma to believe that the ownership of Unimaster was questionable because according to Guerrero, Guillerma's parents were already dead, and that the document which Unimaster held, was issued by Department of Environment and Natural Resources and not the Register of Deeds, which made the title illegitimate," the transmittal further reads.

And so the complainant executed a special power of attorney to Guerrero to represent her in the court litigations and the sale of the supposed property.

Guerrero was allegedly in connivance with other respondents spouses Arthur and Fe Pigon, residents of Sitio Tugasan, Guadalupe, Cebu City. Pigon is the sister-in-law of Guerrero.

In the middle of last year, the complainant said Guerrero demanded money from her and because she has no money, she mortgaged her house to pay for it.

She, however, said with the help of a niece, she discovered that the said property did not really belong to her grandmother yet as a case was pending before the Supreme Court.

The latest payoff demanded by the respondent was conducted inside the house of the complainant at 9 p.m. Agents led by supervising agent Renan Oliva were waiting.

Lim told the media she doesn't want others to fall victim to a similar scam.

"I don't want that this will happen to anyone else," she said.

Meanwhile, complaints for syndicated estafa were filed against the Pigon couple and Guerrero yesterday before the Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor. Upon inquest proceeding, the three waived their rights to undergo preliminary investigation.

State Prosecutor Rhodna Bacatan then recommended the filing of the complaint before them in court.

The couple denied the allegation while Guerrero told the media that she will answer the charges in court. (FREEMAN)