Tiktoker claims man held her cellphone hostage for P50-k ransom

Angelo Martin was accused of asking for a P50,000 ransom in exchange for the return of a cellphone that belongs to a social media influencer and TikToker.

In Emil Sumangil's "24 Oras" report, members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Metro Manila arrested Martin during an entrapment operation. He will be facing complaints of robbery extortion, police said.

The police operation stemmed from the complaint of 17-year-old Kathryn (not her real name), who accused Martin of attempting to extort money to retrieve her phone.

Martin was tracked after Kathryn's boyfriend called up her cellphone, which was lost after the couple went to Divisoria.

When Martin picked it up, Kathryn's camp offered P7,000 as a reward for returning her cellphone. But Martin supposedly laughed at the offer and demanded P50,000 from the couple because the smartphone was expensive, said Kathryn's boyfriend.

The suspect allegedly said Kathryn might also get raped, the boyfriend added.

Out of fear, Kathryn's boyfriend said they reported Martin to the police over the supposed threats.

However, Martin denied demanding ransom money from the couple, adding that he was only asking for the price of the victim's phone.

On social media, the complainants were being vilified, with some alleging the couple was lying about the incident.

Neither Kathryn nor her boyfriend responded to GMA News when asked about the comments against them. — Consuelo Marquez/DVM, GMA News