Three persons reportedly engaged in bank loan scams have been arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation-Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division (NBI-AOTCD) in Quezon City last Nov. 29.

First of those arrested was identified by the NBI as Francis Eric Candido, who used the aliases "Morgan C. Villaroza," "Morgan Villaroza," Anton Devin Figueroa," "Eric Francis Candido," "Karlomagno Reyes," and "Ryland Maman."

It identified the second arrested person as Michael Reyes, who used the alias "Jun Mykel Reyes," while the third person was identified as Marcelino Javier who was also known as "Alexander Suarez Fernandez," "Leonardo Fajardo Carballo," and "Jose Marie Fuentes Mendoza."

The NBI said they were charged with violations of the Access Device Regulation Act of 1998, SIM Registration Act of 2020, and Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, and 13 counts of falsification of public documents, using fictitious name and concealing true name under the Revised Penal Code and the Anti-Alias Law.

The NBI said the operation for the arrest of the trio was conducted based on a complaint.  It said the complainant was asked by the suspects to first secure a driver's license using a false identity in order to obtain a bank loan.

It said the suspects assured the complainant of P500,000 earnings depending on the number of loans that will be granted to him by the unsuspecting banks.

The investigation conducted by NBI-AOTCD revealed that the suspects mainly recruit individuals to assume a detailed fake identity in order for them to secure bank loans without any intention of paying the same.

The suspects provide their recruits with Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) birth certificates and assist them in securing the government-issued identification card and licenses, the NBI said. Soon after completing the necessary requirements, the suspects will then open up bank accounts under their recruits’ fake identities, it said.

To hide their locations, the NBI said suspects rented a co-working space for three months before moving out and transferring to another co-working space.

It also said the suspects further bolstered the scam by creating Fuel Master Petroleum Trading Corp. (FMPTC), a shell corporation, for the sole purpose of acting as the employer of their recruits and making it appear that the company is legitimate.
They would then deposit money to their recruits' debit cards and withdraw from them regularly to keep up the appearance of the recruits' alleged receipt of monthly salaries, it said.

They even have "Assists" who act as human resources personnel of the FMPTC and other contact references for the recruits and these "Assists" pretend to be their parents, siblings, friends, and other relatives who readily answers whenever the banks call for verification, it also said.

It noted that when the NBI-AOTCD finally had enough evidence against them, they proceeded to the current office of FMPTC in Quezon City on Nov. 29 and arrested the three suspects.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of a substantial number of fake government-issued IDs and documents which were used in their fraudulent activities, it also said.