Swindlers take more than P10,000 from Intramuros restaurant

Swindlers, believed to be members of the notorious Budol-Budol gang, got away with more than P10,000 from a couple who own a restaurant in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday.

 

A man and a woman were seen entering the eatery of Ramon and Baby Barrameda at 9:45 a.m. in footage from the restaurant's CCTV cameras aired by GMA's "24 Oras" on Friday.

 

The man approached Ramon like an old friend and even waved to Baby who, at the time, was in their office.

 

"Sino ito, sabi kong ganun. Ako yung seaman na kumakain dito dati, iyon ang sagot niya sa akin. Nag-usap na kami tapos marami siyang kuwento, parang wala kang chance na mag-salita," Baby said.

 

Despite the Barramedas' confusion, they were unable to turn the couple away and even sympathized with the man after he told them of his sickness.

 

They also took a bag of perfumes from the supposed seaman's female companion and wrote them a check amounting to P10,000.

 

"Sumulat ako ng tseke tapos nakita niya na may pera ako dun sa table ko. Sabi niya, i-cash mo na lang ate. Wala sa isip ko, ang bag ko nandiyan sa gilid, kumuha ako ng isang libo sa wallet ko, binigay ko sa kanya," Baby said.

 

By the time Ramon and Baby came to their senses, the man and the woman already left in a cab and were able to cash the P10,000 check.

 

SPO1 Sonly Mijares of PCP - Intramuros confirmed the incident as a case of budol-budol or a form of swindling where one or more people convince their victims to hand over cash or valuables in exchange for fake money or goods.

 

Mijares said the CCTV footage would help identify the suspects and hopefully cut down the number of budol-budol cases in the area.

 

"Ipo-profile po, baka meron na po siyang naunang kaso," he said. — Rie Takumi/JDS, GMA News