7 face syndicated estafa charges in travel booking scam

Five travel agents and two owners of employers are now facing charges of Syndicated Estafa when Quezon City police pounced on them over fake travel booking, duping a number of victims of hundred thousands of pesos of travel fees.

Quezon City Police District Station 9 (Anonas) commander P/Lt.Col. Ferdinand Casiano, identified suspects who are now under their custody as Rogelyn Remedio; Ma. Elena Airene Posadas; Ma. Gladys Nicole Precilla; Charlie Lao-As; Kenneth Precilla, all employees of Fulham Road Travel Agency, while Mark Wayne Chuck and Cacharels Celine Caniillo Collings Chuck, the owners of the travel agency are still at large.

Casino said complainants who have engaged with Fulham Travel Agency since 2020 have files cases at the police station detailing the fraudulent activities of the travel agency.

The police chief cited an incident where five people booked a trip to Boracay through the agency's Instagram account, sending a total of P38,500.00 via bank transfer to Bank of the Philippine Islands as a down payment.

A client also deposited P30,468.00 and P20,000.00 to the same account, covering the full payment of a trip. The travel agency failed to fulfill the complainants' vacation plans scheduled on 18 January 2024.

This prompted the aggrieved party to report the incident, and immediately, operatives were swiftly dispatched to the agency’s address, which resulted in the arrest of the suspects. Unfortunately, the owners of the agency were not present.

The suspects were already charged with Syndicated Estafa, while additional charges for falsification and using fictitious names will be filed against suspects Remedio and Posadas for using falsified documents in processing the complainants’ documents.

A manhunt operation is being conducted for the arrest of the other two suspects.

"Upang maiwasan ang anumang uri ng scam, kailangang iverify nating maigi ang pagkakailanlan ng ating ka-transaksyon bago tayo magbigay ng personal na information o mag-abot ng hinihinging pera. Ang pag-verify sa bawat transaksyon ay isang mahalagang hakbang na makakatulong sa atin upang maiwasan ang anumang posibleng pandaraya,” QCPD Director P/Brig.Gen. Redrico Maranan warned.