NBI nabs cohort of pyramid scam queen in Nueva Ecija

FILE: National Bureau of Investigation (PNA Photo)

MANILA — Operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested a cohort of investment scam queen Rosario Baladjay who is wanted for syndicated estafa in Nueva Ecija.

In a press conference Tuesday, NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin identified the suspect as Randy Rubio, who was arrested by the elements of the bureau’s Technical Investigation Division (TID) in Cabanatuan City last January 19 on the strength of an arrest warrant issued by the Makati City Regional Trial Court.

Rubio, an officer of Baladjay’s Multinational Telecom Investors Corporation (Multitel), was arrested after the latter attended a religious gathering.

He was then taken to the NBI headquarters in Manila where he underwent booking procedures and subsequently detained.

Baladjay started with her lending activities as early as 1988, when contributions ranged from PHP2,000 to PHP10,000. Monthly interest offered to contributors around the time was 1.08 percent or 12 percent per annum.

Baladjay was able to change the name of her corporation from Ariolite Enterprises International Corporation to Multitel, after assuring the Securities and Exchange Commission that the firm’s borrowings would not come from more than 19 lenders.

She was arrested in Mangaldan in Pangasinan in March 2003 after a government crackdown against Multitel and was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Makati court in December 2012.

Both the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court affirmed Baladjay’s conviction.