A 51-year-old man and his son were arrested in Cebu City for syndicated estafa after allegedly defrauding Bohol-based investors of at least P10 million through a “Ponzi scheme.”
Marcelino Ramojal, 51, owner of Tagbilaran City-based networking company I-SURE and son Tishiri, 28, were apprehended by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) – Bohol operatives inside the Maximum Care Solutions office along Fuente Osmeña Circle Street in Cebu City on Tuesday.
At least 20 victims including doctors, businessmen and government employees who are mostly Tagbilaran City residents filed complaints before the NBI against the suspects, said NBI agent Levi Anthony Royeras.
Some Boholanos based abroad also allegedly fell prey to I-SURE.
The Ramojals were arrested through an alias arrest warrant issued by Judge Lindecita Arcamo of the Regional Trial Court Branch 1 in Tagbilaran City on July 23, 2018.
However, the NBI continued to look for Marcelino’s wife Flordefe and other son Cliff, 25, who were also allegedly involved in the operation.
“For the span of 10 months, daghan mi-put up og investments nila kay ang ilang investment scheme is when you invest 31 slots, that is equivalent to P55,800, mo ginansya ka og P13,950, if I’m not mistaken. Unya ibalik pa ang imong unang investment,” said Atty. Renan Oliva, NBI-Bohol officer-in-charge.
According to Oliva, I-SURE which was established in October, 2015 and operated out of the 3rd floor of the Ramvil Building along CPG Avenue in Tagbilaran City, stopped releasing payouts to investors in July, 2016 telling them that their system was hacked.
“Pag-ingon na na-hack, gi put on hold tanan na payouts sa mga investrors. Ang ilang mga kwarta wala na makuha. Mao ang mga taw mi-abot sa millions ang ilang na-invest na wala na nila ma-recover,” said Oliva.
“Mi-abot og millions tungod kay ang investors naka-payout sila usahay, ika-duha, ika-tulo. So syempre sige sila’g put up og more money tungod kay ginansya man kaayo, dili man sila required mag-sell og products, unya maka-ginansya ka og P13,950 a month,” he added.
Oliva said that the Ramojals’ victims initially filed a case on their own but this was dismissed by the fiscal prompting them to report the incident to the NBI in April, 2017.
“Nag-file sila og kaso pero ang problem wala man nagkadimao ang ilang mga papeles, ang ilang documents, mao gi-dismiss sa piskalya,” he said. “So atong gi tan-aw ilang mga documents. Gi-collate tanan, gi-tarong nato and fortunately the prosecutor’s office found probable cause to indict for syndicated estafa.”
Both Marcelino and Tishiri were transferred and detained at the NBI-Bohol lock-up cell.
In February, authorities arrested Anita Sanz, an employee of I-SURE, who remained detained at the Tagbilaran City Jail. (Rey Tutas)