Cameroonians nabbed for crypto fraud

Authorities arrested two Cameroonian nationals in an entrapment operation inside the Clark Freeport Zone on 20 November.

According to the National Bureau of Investigation, operatives from the NBI Pampanga District Office, the 301st Counterintelligence Squadron, the 301st Special Mission Group, and the Philippine Air Force’s 300th Air Intelligence Security Wing, in coordination with the Clark Development Corporation–Public Safety Division, apprehended Vitalys Awa Njinwa, also known as Johnson Brown, and Pensiga Derick Sama, also known as Stephane Andre Obame.

The two suspects were arrested for robbery (extortion) and swindling (estafa).

Based on the report, NBI-PAMDO received a complaint from a Korean national who alleged that the suspects defrauded him of 731,750 USDT (cryptocurrency), equivalent to approximately P42,441,500, in connection with a supposed gold transport operation from Nairobi, Kenya to Incheon, South Korea.

The amount allegedly covered “fees” for customs processing, cargo insurance, warehouse charges, and other fabricated expenses. Investigators said the suspects presented fraudulent documents — including falsified landing permits and air waybills — and even provided videos and photographs of the supposed gold bars to convince the victim that the shipment had arrived and was being held by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) Port of Clark.

Over time, the suspects allegedly demanded more payments and threatened the victim, insisting that the gold would not be shipped unless he paid an additional 1,000,000 USDT (around P58,000,000), purportedly as a bribe for the BoC Chief in Clark.

Realizing he had been scammed, the victim sought help from NBI-PAMDO, prompting the entrapment operation.

During the arranged meeting at a café inside a hotel in Clark, the suspects attempted to collect the 1,000,000 USDT demand, consisting of $25,000 in cash and the remaining balance stored in a cryptocurrency cold-storage ledger. They were arrested on the spot.

The BoC Port of Clark later certified that the airway bill presented by the suspects — supposedly proving the existence of the gold shipment — was not registered in the Customs Electronic-to-Mobile (E2M) system and had no record of arrival at Clark International Airport.

The suspects were subsequently presented for inquest proceedings before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Mabalacat, Pampanga, for the aforementioned violations.