BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – A vlogger from this metropolis yesterday denied she swindled a fellow Ilongga based in the United States to venture into a spurious business.
Jinky Miraflores Carpio, known by the name QueenKix Bugris on Facebook, insisted her partnership with Mary Joy Derla-Ward, an Ilongga nurse based in Los Osos, California, is legitimate.
Carpio, in a message sent to Panay News‘ social media page, said she sent the parcel to Ward on July 15. She said she would send the succeeding parcel to the complainant next week.
“It is not an investment scam, it’s a sales transaction. We have already built a connection over the years. I did not expect this from her (Ward) to put me in the bad light,” Carpio told radio K5 News FM Iloilo.
Ward earlier asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Dubai Police General Headquarters to investigate Carpio.
Ward alleged that Carpio duped her by luring her to invest in her jewelry venture which turned out to be a scam.
Ward requested the FBI and the Dubai police to investigate Carpio.
Carpio, who hails from Zone 5, Barangay Concepcion Duran in Iloilo City, also uses other social media pages such as POGI TeeVee and Iloyski Jugriz. She is reportedly now living in Jumeirah, Dubai.
In her complaint to the FBI, Ward said she began following Carpio on social media sometime in January 2023.
At first, she said she was enticed by Carpio’s live videos since they are filled with humor and sometimes vulgar criticism of the Philippine government.
But Ward said Carpio later started sending her messages on social media and requested donations to help the supposed less fortunate individuals in the Philippines, or to feed stray dogs in Iloilo City.
This prompted Ward to make regular donations Carpio, although the former admitted she was uncertain if the money was indeed used for these charitable purposes.
Last July 3, 2024, Ward said Carpio offered her to become one of her business partners in the selling of gold jewelry from Dubai to the United States.
“Believing it to be a lucrative opportunity, I agreed and wired $5,000 to her son’s girlfriend, Clarise Gabasa, as instructed,” said Ward.
The following day, Ward said Carpio again persuaded her to send an additional $2,500, claiming that the jeweler would add more grams of gold with a larger purchase.
Carpio also asked Ward to transfer another $1,900, which was supposedly needed for tax and shipping insurance of the jewelry from Dubai last July 12, 2024.
Despite her constant reassurances, Ward said the jewelry never arrived. After realizing she had been scammed, Ward said she researched her online and discovered numerous complaints from other victims on her social media page.
She learned that Carpio had multiple warrants for her arrest in the Philippines, prompting her to hide in Dubai. Ward said she alerted the Dubai police about Carpio’s fraudulent transactions with overseas Filipino workers./PN
