Two men have been charged with fraud in Caloocan City after allegedly swindling PHP8.3 million (US$159,335) from a retired overseas worker through a bogus investment scheme.
Police said Antonio Laugan and Jonathan Asuncion had convinced Leonardo Austria, 62, to put his savings into a tuna import-export business in November, Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.
Austria said Asuncion introduced himself as an engineer named Luis de Guia. “They suddenly arrived at my home. They spoke well and I assumed they were genuine businessmen,” he recalled.
But police said the pair were targeting the earnings of retired migrant workers in Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog provinces. Austria had worked abroad for 32 years.
Laugan and Asuncion are being detained in Balanga City Jail while they await their trials for fraud.