ILOILO City – Estafa. Usurpation of authority. Illegal possession of firearm.
These were the charges filed against a dismissed member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who was caught in an entrapment operation the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Region 6 staged on Friday morning in Barangay San Rafael, Mandurriao district.
The 22-year-old Shawn Agregado of Valeria Street, Iloilo City was arrested following three complaints filed against him by people whom he recruited to be members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Special Investigator Aries Bañares of NBI Region 6 said Agregado introduced himself as a Coast Guard personnel and asked money from his victims for their supposed placement and application processing fees at the PCG.
The suspect already collected a total of P403,077 through his recruitment scam, the NBI said.
“He convinced his victims that he can help them join the Philippine Coast Guard provided they have to give him some money,” said Bañares.
The victims opted not be identified.
Bañares led the NBI team that nabbed Agregado around 9 a.m. on July 5.
When frisked, Agregado yielded a .45-caliber pistol. The suspect failed to present the gun’s registration documents.
According to police investigation, Agregado joined the AFP in 2017. He was dismissed from service after he went absent without official leave one year later.
Agregado was detained in the lockup cell of NBI Region 6 office.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel Joe Luviz Mercurio of PCG-Iloilo said they are not asking for placement fees from applicants.
“I just wanted to tell any interested person who wants to join our organization to go to our office or open our website to avoid being a victim of a scam,” Mercurio said./PN
