Not everything that glitters is gold.
A man in Palawan sought help from the local police after two men claiming to be treasure hunters in the town of Bataraza swindled him into giving them PHP120,000.
According to the victim, he personally knows the suspects. They had told him that they were looking for a gold bar buyer.
“The alleged gold bar has the word ‘Cambodia’ on it. The suspects allegedly drilled the gold bar in front of him to show that it was not fake. They also had the gold bar scrutinized by a pawnshop in the area. The pawnshop said it contained 18 to 22 karat gold,” reports Chinee Sanchez Palatino on ABS-CBNnews.com.
According to the victim, the suspects then asked him to look for a buyer so he could get a commission. After several days, the suspects spoke to him again. This time, they urged him to just buy the gold bar himself for PHP100,000. They promised to give him the gold bar after he handed over the cash.
However, the victim still didn’t receive the gold bar even he gave the suspects PHP100,000. The scammers told him were still going to get the gold bar in Bataraza.
Sometime after that, the scammers demanded an additional PHP20,000 from the victim. They then gave him what appeared to be a gold bar. The victim later discovered it was fake. This prompted the victim to seek the police’s help.
On Wed, Jul 13, one of the suspects, a man named Raymund Ruel Rapiz, was arrested in an entrapment operation. Rapiz’s accomplice, however, is still at large.
