Six 'rentangay' car units returned to owners

Owners of six car units involved in the alleged “rentangay” scam were able to get their vehicles back on Friday, an Unang Balita report on Monday said.

According to Atty. Randy Escolango, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Deputy Administrator for Legal Affairs, the units were found inside a warehouse in Subic Bay Freeport Zone and were already under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Olongapo City.

"These are alleged stolen vehicles, and we are investigating how these were found here," he said.

Escolango explained that the car units were placed inside the warehouse because there was “lack of parking space and for safekeeping purposes” after former Zambales Governor Vicente Magsaysay turned them over to NBI Special Agent Norman Revita on March 2.

The owners already saw their car units as early as Thursday night and sought the help of the Olongapo police as well as the SBMA Law Enforcement Department to retrieve them.

However, since the cars were already under NBI custody, the owners had to undergo certain procedures to verify the identification of the units.

The so-called “rent-tangay scam” was allegedly carried out by a syndicate which gave "fraudulent promises" of rental income.

The vehicle owners later found out that their vehicles were either mortgaged or sold to different people without their knowledge and consent.

The scheme also reportedly gives incentives to car owners for successfully enticing another car owner to join the investment scam. —Erwin Colcol/KG, GMA News