Cops file raps vs Katrina Paula, 3 others linked to carjack gang

Police authorities have filed criminal complaints against actress Katrina Paula and three other individuals for their alleged involvement in carjacking activities of a criminal syndicate led allegedly by the Dominguez brothers. The Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed late Wednesday the complaints against the four people for alleged carjacking with homicide before the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office. Named respondents in the complaints were Paula (real name, Angeline Samonte), Julliane Allysa Crisostomo, Rolando Talban, and an alias “Joel." Samonte and Crisostomo were supposedly the girlfriends of, respectively, Raymond and Roger Dominguez, the brothers who are both in police custody for their alleged involvement in the killing of car dealer Venson Evangelista last month. Police authorities filed the complaints on behalf of Evangelista's parents. Police could not yet tell what exactly the participation of the two women in the crime was. The two were tagged in the handwritten affidavit of Alfred Mendiola, an alleged accomplice in the crime who is reportedly being considered to become a state witness. Mendiola has already confessed to having posed as the prospective buyer of the Land Cruiser that Evangelista was selling at that time in Quezon City. After agreeing to accompany Mendiola on a test drive, Evangelista was taken north of Manila where he was believed to have been killed and burned. In his affidavit, Mendiola claimed that Crisostomo was “in the vicinity" of the Dominguez group’s safehouse in Pampanga when the suspects arrived with Evangelista, who was already tied up. Mendiola also alleged that Crisostomo would “sometimes be seen" with the Dominguez brothers. As for Samonte, Mendiola claimed Raymond even fetched her, their child, and a nanny after news about Evangelista spread. Police arrested Roger on February 10 for committing a traffic violation as he was driving a Mitsubishi Outlander which turned out to be owned by Crisostomo. “Joel" and Talban, the alleged gunman in the killing of Evangelista, remain at large. The Dominguez brothers, Mendiola, Ferdinand Parulan, and Jayson Miranda, who was arrested with Roger, are all facing charges of carjacking with homicide. The Dominguez group is also being linked to the death of another car dealer, Emerson Lozano – son of Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano – and his driver Ernani Sencil. – Mark D. Merueñas/MRT/JV, GMA News