“Some friends are like sunny days, with false flames, oozing from afar, coming near without a dime.” – Michael Bassey Johnson.
I can smell her vulnerability from afar. I have this uncanny ability to sense my victim. It started at a young age with a big lie that helped me avoid punishment if caught. Since then lying has become my ticket to obtaining trust from people. All it takes is a credible and respectful manner of speaking. Let me show you how it’s done.
“Hello kababayan. You seem to be confused.”
“Opo naman ate. It’s my first time to do the grocery and I can’t find the ingredients I need to make pinakbet.”
“You’re on the wrong grocery market. Allow me to take you there since it’s on my way.”
“Salamat po ate. I hope it’s not much of an inconvenience for you.”
“Not at all and call me Tita Loida.”
“Ako naman po ay si Cynthia.”
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The opening has been made. There’s now a crack in the door of trust. The objective is to keep on pushing that door until it is wide open.
“Do you have all you need, Cynthia.”
“Opo Tita Loida.”
“Let’s go then. I’ll take you home. Here’s my business card. As you can see, I’m a realtor, mortgage provider, financial advisor, and money transfer specialist. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need any of these services. Let me take your phone number to keep in touch with you. There’s nobody you can trust more than your kababayan. When I first came to Canada, I relied heavily on the goodness of our kababayaan. I’m paying it forward by doing the same thing with you.”
“You’re so kind Tita Loida. Don’t worry po, I will call you as soon as I receive my first salary. I’ll need your help sending money to my parents in the Philippines.”
“No problem. Don’t be a stranger, okay. Remember, I’m here for you always.”
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True to her words, Cynthia called me to arrange for a money remittance to her parents in the Philippines. I exchanged her Canadian dollar at 5 cents higher than the going rate. I pointed that out to her so I could secure her as a regular client. Soon Cynthia introduced me to her friends and they became my regular clients as well in the money remittance business. I just made a little profit but that’s okay. The trust I established with Cynthia and her circle of friends would grow exponentially. That’s when I’d get a huge payoff for my patient modus operandi (MO).
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It’s called the Ponzi scheme a la Bernie Madoff. I invited all my regular clients for a free investment seminar. Complete with glossy investment brochures, well-designed presentation slides and free snacks and drinks, I introduced them with a new pooled-bond fund managed by a well-established investment firm. The investment firm was phoney, of course, but I managed to develop a website with bogus officers and investment products, just in case someone might be smart enough to google the company.
The initial investment was $5,000 with a guaranteed interest of 25% every year. As it would take a year to build up a 25% rate of return, withdrawals would not be allowed for the first year. There’s also an option to reinvest the interest back to the bond fund.
I didn’t expect all my regular clients to be on board. There would always be scepticism. That’s just ingrained in our nature. But those who trusted me well, Cynthia for one, didn’t hesitate. At the end of my presentation, I managed to sign up 20 people.
Thereafter, I continued my investment sales pitch every month. At the end of the year, I signed up another180 people, thus reaching the $1 million mark. I paid $1,250 interest each to the first 20 people, including Cynthia, as promised. They were so happy and taken to the scheme that words spread out easily in the Filipino community. There’s no doubt what the power of greed can do to people of careful disposition. It’s like a light bulb has been switched in front of them that they get blind immediately. They open their wallets willingly without second thoughts. As a result, more money was trickling in as more clients wanted to ride the bandwagon. If only they knew that the 25% return on their investments was being paid for from the cash of new clients. It was sly and totally fraudulent. After 5 years, I had two million sitting in my bank account. I disappeared and left Toronto. I was careful not to have my picture taken. And my name was definitely phoney. It was big news so I laid low for a while. I travelled across Canada just like a tourist, enjoying the scenic landscapes and rolling hills of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland & Labrador in the east coast, then Alberta and British Columbia in the west coast. Once it was safe, I used the same MO for the Filipino community in Winnipeg. After 5 years, I left Canada for the Philippines.
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My fraudulent scheme I designed in the Philippines was different. This time I pretended to be an immigrant consultant. I again developed a phoney website with all the accolades of success in the immigration field. The phone number listed went straight to the voice mail. I returned the messages with well-disguised voice and accent. That’s another skill I learned and honed to perfection.
I told my clients that the immigration process could take a year or two. So I asked an initial consulting fee of 50,000 pesos just to cover the visa application process and lawyer’s fees. An additional 50,000 pesos would be required to pay for the costs of physical examination and obtaining passports. (The approved visa, of course, was just a bogus letter from the Canadian embassy.)
There were so many desperate Filipinos who would leap quickly for a chance to live a better life in Canada. They risked gambling their hard-earned savings and assets away for that opportunity. So it’s not that difficult to find such people all over the country. As much as I was subjecting them to more financial ruin and life-long poverty, I didn’t feel any remorse. I saw reality as the survival of the fittest. Everyone must avoid being outsmarted. I gave them a need they most desired, it’s no longer my fault if they took the bait. Life is full of choices – albeit some are beyond our control, such as the lottery of birth. But one’s future is his/her responsibility. And in so doing, it follows that all must be accountable for their decisions.
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As soon as I made a ton of money, I left the Philippines immediately. I went to Europe first to cover my trail. I never heard of any news report in the Philippines about me. A complaint must have been filed and because of bureaucratic red tape (or langis nga dyan), it was buried in someone’s desk. Lucky for me. After five months, I came home to Canada for good. I also decided to retire from my fraudulent schemes. I had enough money to live a good life, although at the expense of others. I had one shot of living well in life and succeeded through my ingenuity. It’s not easy designing a believable scheme and expecting to get away with it. You couldn’t fool so many people for so long. I did it and that’s the end of that chapter in my life. I must move forward without remorse!
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I bought a five-room cottage in Peterborough County nearby the Kawartha Lakes. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamed of waking up in the morning, fresh-brewed coffee in hand, smelling the dewy smell of country air and reflecting on the calmness of life as mirrored in the stillness of the lake water.
I just settled a few weeks in my retirement when a BOLO (Be on the Lookout) came out of one Loida Mahuthut who bilked millions from unsuspecting Filipinos in Toronto and Winnipeg. The police were asking the public to call the Tip Line if they spotted her but not to approach her as she might be dangerous. They believed she’s hiding somewhere in Ontario. They posted a picture of her. How they got hold a picture of me was next to impossibility. It didn’t matter now.
I never ventured out since the BOLO came out, afraid I might be spotted. My name in the BOLO was, of course, phony, so that was not a big concern. If I needed anything, like groceries, I just phoned or ordered on line to be delivered directly to my house. I was okay for a while but then I was getting paranoid. I started hearing or seeing things deceptively. The confinement was giving me stress and anxiety. Soon it was driving me nuts. I closed all the curtains throughout the day, and the house appeared ominously threatening. I resorted to hiding in the closets. I began a monologue just to while away the long day. I couldn’t even sleep at night. The vision of a prison cell was keeping me awake. Ironically, I seemed to be in one right now.
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BREAKING NEWS: A woman was removed from her house cottage in Peterborough County just this morning. Her neighbours called the police due to an onion-like stink that reeked of the neighbourhood of fresh air for several days now. When the police entered the house, they found a deranged woman screaming foreign-sounding words: “Bato, bato sa langit ang tamaan ay huwag magagalit!!!”
20 August 2020