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Even the dead are not off-limits to criminals.
“Investigators from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) recently arrested Eamon Criz Madriaga, 35, who used the identity of a dead man in securing a credit card, which he had utilized several times in two days to buy goods totaling PHP287,801.34,” reports Cecille Suerte Felipe in The Philippine Star.
According to ACG chief Senior Superintendent Gilbert Sosa, Madriaga was apprehended along Sen. Neptali Gonzales Street in Mandaluyong City on Feb 13.
Undercover police officers acted as couriers to deliver another credit card to Madriaga, who presented an identification card bearing the name of a person who died two years ago, Sosa said.
The ACG got wind of Madriaga’s criminal shopping spree from a complaint filed by law firm Baterina, Baterina, Casals, Lozada, & Tiblani in behalf of a local bank.
The bank had gotten alarmed when they realized that “a credit card named after a dead person to buy groceries, an electric motorcycle, and other items at different supermarkets and stores in Metro Manila.”
The report noted: “Sosa said Madriaga could have had a contact among the bank employees, which allowed him to get the information of some deceased persons.”
Sosa explained, “Under the modus operandi, the credit card of the dead person will be delivered to their conspirator and will be used to buy items from different merchants. The items will be sold at a lower price as (they) divide the proceeds.”
Madriaga faces charges for violating Republic Act 8484, the Access Device Act of 1998.
The report added that “authorities are conducting further investigations to identify Madriaga’s cohorts, particularly in the banks, who facilitate the issuance of credit cards named after deceased individuals.”
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