Based on the retelling of ASA Philippines Foundation Inc. founder and former President Kamrul Tarafder, the threats stemming from the hacking incident turned for the worse.

A review and confirmation of the list of bank account addresses of Kamrul and members of his family would reveal that these are all false and fabricated. The pictures printed and used in the sinister package appear to have been taken in the past year and indicate that the threat actors have been tracking Simon and Kamrul and their family for months. Simon, with the assistance of a counsel, visited the Eastern Police District Substation 1 to report the incident.

A plan was made to visit the Manila Luxury Condominium and nearby establishments the following day to request and review the CCTV footage with the assistance of the police.

The meeting with the police did not push through as the assigned officer became unavailable.

On 5 April 2024 in the afternoon, Simon and his business associates went to Ifugao for a business meeting.

Simon traveled by land using his personal vehicle together with his two business associates.

The business travel was originally scheduled for 4 April 2024 but had to be rescheduled at the last minute as Simon waited for the police investigation that did not push through.

In the trip, Kamrul’s group stayed in two separate hotels: one in Hotel Francesko in Nueva Vizcaya, and another at KGI Mountainside Hotel in Lagawe Ifugao.

In the afternoon of 8 April 2024, Simon and Kamrul received another parcel delivery addressed at their residence which substantially reiterated the demand for a ransom of 50,000,000.00 (this time in dollars), which must be produced in 24 hours, with the threat that failing to do so would mean he and his family will be killed.

Included in the letter as well are pictures of Simon and his associates while on business travel last 5 April 2024 and a picture of his vehicle in the parking area of a hotel.

The threat actors were conveying the message that Kamrul and Simon were being followed in real time.

Therefore, on instinct, they checked if there were GPS trackers installed in their vehicles, and much to their surprise, they found GPS tracking devices clandestinely attached to their cars.

A review of the CCTV footage from KGI Mountainside Hotel in Lagawe Ifugao showed two suspicious Filipino individuals asking the hotel receptionist about Simon and his associates at the hotel’s reception desk.

As the family failed to receive help from the Eastern Police District, the incidents were reported to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and to the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Crame. Investigations remain ongoing and to this day, these have yielded nothing.

Kamrul reported to the ASA Board immediately after learning of the first threat received on 2 April 2024.

Kamrul then requested from the ASA Board a budget for the security of his family and expenses for the investigation.

The ASA Board granted only a budget of P10 million with a proposal that Kamrul and his family leave the country temporarily, this coming close to the Annual General Membership Meeting of the Foundation barely a month away.

The release of the P10 million security budget was also delayed. In the meantime, Kamrul and Simon purchased an armored vehicle and hired additional security detail out of their own money. This action again did not sit well with the ASA Board and was taken against Kamrul.

ASA Board suspiciously also was able to immediately engage the services of a foreign “security consultant” to supposedly assist in the threat assessment and investigation in the person of Mr. David Mundy of Associated Risk.

Kamrul initially agreed to a Threat Assessment by the said agency but soon objected when Simon discovered the Phone previously delivered to him as part of the threat materials was brought into the country from Thailand, also where the CEO of the Security Agency was based.

And the local partners of the Security Agency had a reputation for corruption. In addition, and finally it is highly probable that the security threats are in fact emanating from within the ASA Board.

Despite several objections and pleas from Kamrul and another board member, the firm was still hired and managed to intrude into the privacy of Kamrul and his family’s personal life such as the penetration of his home and office and stalking family members without their knowledge and consent.

His objections were taken against him by the Board and he was accused of being noncooperative and, worse, being not in the right frame of mind. Despite his objections, the ASA Board insisted and successfully engaged the security consultant in violation of the rights to privacy of Kamrul and his family.

(To be continued)