Sleeping with the enemy

EVEN though there are countless cautionary tales of individuals losing their entire fortunes to pretty young things or strapping macho men, the victims often don’t stand a chance. Why? Because many of these gold-diggers have honed their acts to a fine edge.

I recently heard about the story of a not-quite-young-but-still-a-bitattractive lady who has turned her scam into a family business. She’s on her third ended marriage now (she’s not even 50 years old yet) and has left a wake of destruction in her path. Her modus follows a pattern: she draws wealthy single men to her by playing the meek and helpless damsel, then somehow talks them into marrying her. After living lavishly for a couple of years – not to mention persuading her new spouse to support her brothers financially as well – she files for annulment.

How does she kick this off? By inventing wild tales of abuse, captivity, spousal and paternal rape, and filing these fabricated stories in several courts. Even with her shy and timid act, however, she still gets caught in her web of lies. Take for example her last victim (i.e. husband), who presented such irrefutable proof of the entire scam that the Quezon City court threw out the case not once, but twice.

This is where her brother comes in, who is a known pastor in one church. It seems pastor-brother has certain connections to make any case move forward, even one that was already twice dismissed. After pastor “gives to Caesar what is Caesar’s,” it’s on to the next victim.

The lady and her tactics are already well known in several circles, and many have warned their rich bachelor friends to keep an eye out for sudden blossoming friendship with her. What’s rather sad is that the church of the pastor-brother has been fully informed about their operation, but has chosen to turn a blind eye to this racket.

These people are using the illusion of true love to scam people, and hiding behind false sanctity. That’s the worst kind of scam.