More ‘Bitcoin scam’ victims surface, claim billions in losses

Victims of supposed Bitcoin scammer Arnel Ordonio and his wife on Tuesday announced plans to file criminal charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ) as they claimed they were duped as much as billions of pesos from the online investment scheme.

In a press conference in Manila City, Pyra Lucas -- a mother of one of the victims -- said she, along with some 100 others plan to file syndicated estafa complaints against Ordonio before the DOJ.

"May mga ifa-file po kami na kaso after here... Sa DOJ po, tapos makikipag-coordinate kami sa CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group)," she said.

Ordonio and his wife were arrested by policemen in Ilocos Sur and are now under the custody of the CIDG and detained at Camp Crame.

Under the supposed scheme, Ordinio would recruit individuals to invest in his cryptocurrency account under Coins.ph with the promise of interests every 16 days.

According to Lucas' son Joseph Gantan, the minimum investment amount was P90,000 which would then generate interests of P30,000 to grow to P120,000 every 16 days.

Gantan said he -- along with his family and friends -- initially invested P10 million in the scheme.

"'Yung na-invest ko po kasama 'yung sa pamilya ko isa mga nasa 10 million [pesos]. 'Yun po 'yung initial. Savings po namin 'yun, magmula po noong nagtrabaho ako -- online seller, trader," he said.

"'Yung mga kaibigan ko na nakisali rin isa mga nasa 36 million [pesos]," he added.

Gantan said that initially, investors would receive returns but this stopped in December 2017, when they planned to cash out their earnings but Ordonio could no longer be contacted.

"Noon pong December, tina-try namin kuhanin 'yung pera namin. Ang nangyari po is nagalit po siya. Sinasabi niya samin na walang magpu-pullout. Ang magpu-pullout po is hindi na makakabalik kahit kailan," he said.

"46.7 million [pesos] po 'yung pinu-pullout namin nung December, pati po 'yung mga kaibigan ko," he added.

Gantan said he met with Ordoño on March 11, when he and his co-investors were promised they would receive their initial investments on March 25 to 28, excluding gains.

"Doon po ay pumirma siya ng kasunduan na magse-settle siya ng March 25. Hanggang March 28 hindi na po siya nagpakita," he said.

Daryl James Navarro, one of the supposed victims, recounted a similar account.

"Ang una pong sabi sa akin is ang 90,000 ay 120,000 ang tubo in every 16 days. 30,000 every 16 days, sa one month meron kaming 60,000," he said.

Navarro said he and his family invested almost P11 million in the scheme, and were supposed to reap as much as P300 million.

"Ang gusto lang po namin is makatulong, pero 'yung ginawa ni Arnel samin is inipit kami tapos parang kami pa 'yung dinidiin niya sa CIDG. Kami rin po, biktima kami dito ng panloloko niya," he said.

Aside from Gantan and Navarro, Ordonio supposedly duped as much as a hundred victims, with total losses estimated to be at the billions of pesos. —ALG, GMA News