A woman allegedly engaged in an investment scam has been arrested in La Union, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced on Sunday, March 20.
She was identified by the NBI as Shyna May Vergara, who, after the arrest last March 14, was charged with violations of Article 315 (estafa) of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The NBI said that Vergara was arrested during an entrapment operation conducted by the NBI’s Ilocos Regional Office (NBI-IRO) after receiving a complaint from an alleged victim.
“Upon handing over of the marked money to Subject Vergara by the complainant, operatives of NBI-IRO immediately approached the subject and announced her arrest. The operatives were able to recover from the subject the marked money,” it said.
Based on the complaint, the NBI said that “Vergara enticed the complainant to invest P5,000 for a payout of P9,000 every twenty-two (22) days, with a one-time payout for each investment.”
It said that “on Feb. 24, 2022, the complainant met with Subject Vergara and handed P5,000 as her investment.”
“On the next day, the victim learned from her sister that Subject Vergara is a fraud and she was a victim by the Subject’s scheme,” it added. She then sought the NBI’s help.