NBI seizes P4.4M worth of thermal scanners in Quezon City

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has confiscated a thousand non-contact thermal scanners worth P4.4 million from a Chinese national who allegedly intended to sell them for well over the regular price range.

Operatives arrested Chen Tian Man in Quezon City last April 2 for allegedly selling thermal scanners at P4,400 per unit, higher than the P599 to P3,400 price range set by the Department of Trade and Industry, the NBI said.

He faces complaints for deceptive sales acts and practices, profiteering, hoarding, and price manipulation.

NBI agents also arrested four Filipinos in Caloocan after catching them selling two drums of alcohol during an entrapment operation last April 1.

The bureau planned the operation after vetting an intelligence report claiming that a businessman was selling "100% alcohol" in drums for P37,500 per drum, higher than the allowed price of P25,000.

Operatives ordered two drums and arrested John Derick Dela Rosa, Jomel Tapispisan, Sarah Grace Tapispisan, and Nathaniel Palingkod at the scheduled transaction date, the NBI said.

They have undergone inquest for profiteering.

Law enforcement authorities have arrested several individuals who allegedly hoarded and overpriced medical supplies amid a worldwide shortage of personal protective equipment for frontliners during the COVID-19 emergency.

To address gaps in supply, prosecutors will allow confiscated materials to be seized even while criminal cases are pending and sold, with preference given to the government, for use by frontline agencies.

Prosecutors will retain representative samples as evidence, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said last week.—AOL, GMA News