NBI arrests 2 Cameroon nationals for 'duping' South Korean of P42-M
Two Cameroon nationals have been arrested for allegedly duping a South Korean national of P42 million in cryptocurrency in Pampanga.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) identified the arrested foreigners as Vitalys Awa Njinwa, also known as “Johnson Brown,” and Pensiga Derick Sama, also known as “Stephane Andre Obame.”
It said they were arrested during an entrapment operation conduct last Nov. 20 by operatives of the NBI Pampanga District Office (NBI-PAMDO) in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Clark Development Corporation-Public Safety Division (CDC-PSD).
After their arrest, the two foreigners were presented for inquest before the City Prosecutor’s Office in Mabalacat, Pampanga for robbery or extortion and for estafa.
The NBI said it acted on a complaint from a Korean national who reported that “the Subjects had defrauded him of 731,750 USDT (cryptocurrency), equivalent to approximately P42,441,500, in connection with a purported Gold Transport Operation from Nairobi, Kenya, to Incheon, South Korea.”
The complaint stated that “the amount represented alleged fees for customs processing, cargo insurance, warehouse charges, and other fabricated expenses.”
It also alleged that the suspects provided fraudulent documents, including falsified landing permits and air waybills, videos and photographs of the supposed gold bars to convince that the gold had been shipped and was being held by the Bureau of Customs-Port of Clark in Pampanga.
During the investigation, the NBI said that “the Bureau of Customs-Port of Clark certified that the Airway Bill presented by the subjects as purported proof of the gold shipment was not registered in the Bureau of Customs’ Electronic-to-Mobile (E2M) System and had no record of arrival at the Port of Clark International Airport.”
The complainant also claimed that the suspects threatened that the gold would not be shipped unless the complainant paid an additional $1,000,000 or equivalent to around P58,000,000 “as a bribe for the chief of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in Clark.”
“Realizing that he had been defrauded, the complainant sought assistance from NBI-PAMDO which launched an entrapment operation,” it added.