Guard who offered ‘bogus’ loan charged

Case stemmed from complaint filed by lawyer, two others accusing Romeo Blase Jr., former security guard of Pioneer Detective Credit Security Agency, Inc., and Jeffrey Campaner, pioneer Security Agency payroll master, of estafa before the City Prosecutor’s Office

THE Office of the Cebu City Prosecutor has indicted a former security guard who allegedly duped lawyer Dara Acusar and two others into bogus loan applications amounting to P1.752 million in 2014.

Prosecutor Maria Lourdes Bragat-Quilitorio found evidence to charge Romeo Blase Jr. with estafa before the Regional Trial Court.

“Because of respondent’s fraudulent acts, the complainants were deceived into releasing the money intended as loans for the borrowers, and said deception caused the complainants to part their money,” said Quilitorio in her resolution.

The case stemmed from the complaint filed by Dara, Pacita Catubig, and Ellen Padinas accusing Blase, the former security guard of Pioneer Detective Credit Security Agency, Inc., and Jeffrey Campaner, pioneer Security Agency payroll master, of estafa before the City Prosecutor’s Office.

In May 2014, Blase approached Catubig to request a personal loan of P5,000. Catubig then proposed to Acusar the idea of providing the funds for Blase’s loans.

Acusar agreed to the idea and released the amount to Blase at five percent interest per month payable in two months.

In the following weeks, Blase offered to act as a “guarantor” for fellow security guards who would secure loans from Catubig.

Blase said that Campaner would just deduct the loans from the security guards’ payroll.

In April 2016, Acusar noticed that the loans were no longer paid on time, and loans were simply paid over with new loans from supposed new borrowers.

Acusar confronted Blase, who admitted that he had been suspended from Pioneer Agency for being absent without official leave.

Blase told the lawyer that payments would be returning to “normal” once Campaner is back to work.

Sensing the anomaly, Acusar directed Catubig to verify the signatures and IDs of the other guards who supposedly applied for loans.

The complainants found out that only 22 of 243 guards who secured the loans are actual guards of Pioneer Security Agency.

The 221 listed guards who supposedly availed of the loans were fabricated names. Erick Elmer Gica, Pioneer Security Agency general manager, also issued a certification that Blase had singlehandedly facilitated the fake loan applications, presented fake IDs and received the loan proceeds, which reached P1.752 million as of April 28, 2016.

In the resolution, Prosecutor Quilitorio said that due to Blase’s fraudulent acts, the complainants caused the release of bogus loans proceeds to about 221 fake applications.

“Defraudation was indubitably shown when complainants discovered that respondent had fabricated the names, IDs, and signatures of the borrower security guards, as confirmed by Pioneer to be not among the security guards of their agency, and that there was really no intent of paying the said loans,” the resolution read.

On the other hand, the prosecutor dismissed for lack of evidence the complaint against Campaner.