A man who posed as a member of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to extort money from a theft victim was arrested during an entrapment operation in Pasay City on Jan. 29.

Pasay City Police chief Col. Joselito De Sesto identified the suspect as Scott, 41, a resident of G. Del Pilar Street, Malate, Manila.

The suspect was apprehended by operatives of the Pasay City Police MOA Substation inside a convenience store on G. Puyat Avenue, Pasay City.

The victim was identified as Don, 27, a resident of Shore Residences, MOA Complex, Pasay City.

According to the victim, at around 11:40 p.m. on Jan. 27, he was walking from Baclaran to his residence when he noticed that his cellular phone—an iPhone 17 Pro Max worth P130,000—was missing. He immediately reported the incident.

While standing outside outside a police precinct, the victim said he was approached by the suspect, who introduced himself as a police colonel from the PNP Intelligence Group.

The suspect allegedly offered to help retrieve the cellphone in exchange for money.

Out of desperation, the victim initially gave P7,000 in cash to the suspect for the recovery of his phone.

The victim later went to the Pasay City Police MOA Substation to verify the suspect’s identity after the latter allegedly demanded an additional P20,000 for the cellphone’s recovery.

Police confirmed that the suspect was not a member of the PNP Intelligence Group.

An entrapment operation was immediately conducted, leading to the suspect’s arrest. Recovered from him were two mobile phones—one black Samsung unit and one Infinix phone (Starfall green with black phone case)—which contained conversations between the suspect and the victim.

The arrested suspect and seized items were brought to Sub-Station 10 (MOA) for documentation.

The suspect was then taken to the Pasay City General Hospital for physical examination before being turned over to the Investigation and Detective Management Section (IDMS) for further investigation and the filing of appropriate charges.