CON MAN. Alleged investment scam agent Emmanuel Orcullo, 22, hides his face as reporters tried to get his side over his arrest on Tuesday (Oct. 8, 2019). The suspect, who hails from Cavite, was nabbed during an entrapment in General Santos City. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Police arrested an alleged agent of an investment scam in an entrapment operation in a village here on Tuesday.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, Maj. Tirso Pascual, chief of the Bula police station, said the suspect, Emmanuel Orcullo, 22, was nabbed following a transaction around 10 a.m. inside a vehicle on Acharon Boulevard, Barangay Dadiangas South.
Pascual said the transaction was made by Bernie Solatorio, an alleged agent of a defunct company that previously operated an investment scam who was also arrested in an entrapment at the Avior Hotel here last Monday.
Pascual said Solatorio agreed to act as a decoy against Orcullo, who was allegedly soliciting investments from him in exchange for a hefty payout.
Pascual said Orcullo is supposedly engaged in the trading of bitcoins and foreign exchange, the same activities promoted by Solatorio's alleged firm Rigen Marketing, in luring investments from local residents.
Orcullo, who hails from Imus town in Cavite, arrived in the city from Manila on Tuesday to supposedly collect some PHP2 million in investment from Solatorio.
Solatorio fetched the suspect at the city airport and made the payment using fake or "boodle money" while they were inside the vehicle.
“This is through the cooperation (of Solatorio). We were able to get Orcullo, who is his contact in his illegal investment activities," Pascual said.
Pascual said the suspect "positively received" the marked money through Solatorio.
Recovered from the suspect were the "boodle money," a cellphone, two pads of checkbooks and PHP1,720 cash.
Solatorio was arrested by operatives from the Bula police station and the Police Regional Office-12's intelligence division for allegedly trying to lure a local resident to invest some PHP2 million into Rigen, which purportedly resumed its operations in the city.
Solatorio allegedly offered to triple the investment in just one month and promised a succeeding interest payout of 400 percent per month, he said.
But Pascual said the concerned resident instead reported the matter to their station, prompting them to set up an entrapment.
Solatorio and Orcullo are facing charges for estafa and swindling. (PNA)
