Rent-a-car employee arrested for attempt to extort money from customer
A rent-a-car employee who attempted to extort P300,000 from one of the firm's customers for a damaged vehicle has been arrested in Makati City, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Friday, Nov. 17.
The NBI identified the suspect as Kumar Bhagwindas Thadani, also known as "Solo," an employee of the Angel Rent-a-Car.
It said that Thadani was arrested by operatives of the NBI’s Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division (NBI-AOCTD) after he received the marked money from the complainant during an entrapment operation last Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Thadhani has been charged before the Makati City prosecutor's office with robber-extortion, estafa, and grave threats.
The NBI said the complainant rented a car from Angel Rent-a-Car from March 25 to April 3 but, during that time, the vehicle sustained a small dent and a long scratch after being bumped by a motorcycle.
When she returned the car, the NBI said “they came to an agreement that the repair of the car would no longer be taken out of the insurance coverage, instead, complainant would recompense Thadani P35,000.00.”
“From then on, Solo (Thadani) had been tormenting the complainant with threats of sending her to jail. When complainant was only able to send P3,000, Solo messaged her that they will file a wWarrant with the police and she would then have to pay around P200,000 to P300,000. Despite having paid a total of P43,000 to Solo for the repair of the car, complainant continuously received threats from Solo,” the NBI said.
Later, the NBI said that Thadani demanded P300,000 from the complainant who was told that if she failed to produce said amount, “they would file a case for carnapping against her and further threatened that they would post her photo on Facebook and would set a reward for anyone who can find her.”
Due to fears for her safety, the NBI said the complainant sought the help of the NBI-AOCTD.