BAGUIO CITY – The woes of a 26-year old alleged illegal recruiter who had been using the name of Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan to convince willing and innocent local residents to immediately pay him substantial amounts of money in exchange for work in Japan was compounded after several individuals whom he earlier recruited to join an alleged ponzi firm charged him with estafa after he was able to divest from them substantial amounts of money.
Police identified the arrested illegal recruiter as Godfrey Lomas-I Macabeo, 26, a native of Sagada, Mountain Province who was earlier arrested for illegal recruitment after he attempted to continue extorting substantial amounts from 4 local residents using the name of Mayor Domogan.
Macabeo was subjected to an entrapment operation as he was arrested by personnel of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) when one of the victims paid him the initial amount of P10,000 as advance payment for his demand and that the same was marked money.
He reportedly promised the victims employment opportunities in Japan but he had been time and again demanding from his victims huge amounts of money in several instances considering that Mayor Domogan was reportedly pressuring him to raise money for his principals in Japan. Each of the victims was reportedly able to pay the suspect over P60,000 but they were not deployed in Japan for the promised work.
Lately, a certain Eleanor Okili positively identified Macabeo as the one who recruited her and 61 other individuals to invest a total of P4.6 million to an alleged ponzi firm which was later identified as For Life and that they will get convincing returns from their investments.
Again, his promise to his downlines was not again fulfilled until he failed to show himself to his victims.
The arrested illegal recruiter is now detained at the Baguio City jail awaiting the resolution of the provincial prosecutor’s office on the charges filed against him.
Mayor Domogan confirmed that Macabeo’s parents already approached him to forgive their some for whatever wrongdoings that he committed because he is the only son but he asked the suspect’s parents to inquire from him if he was willing to reform himself and change his ways of life to prevent him from suffering future problems.
The mayor is still contemplating whether or not to give in to the demand of Macabeo’s parents.
By Dexter A. See
