A 35-year-old woman accused of duping small-time businessmen into a livelihood scam was arrested in Barangay Basak Pardo, Cebu City on Wednesday evening.
Analie Yu, also known as Insik, was tricking businessmen into availing of a livelihood loan allegedly from the Office of the President Rodrigo Duterte.
Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, who interrogated the woman, said Yu was asking a P195 registration fee from small businessmen in the barangay; mostly sari-sari store owners and vendors.
In return, she promised them that they will get a P10,000 livelihood loan from the Office of the President.
Tumulak said some of the vendors who were victimized reported Yu to the barangay.
Barangay tanods then arrested Yu, who was found a few meters from the barangay hall, a few minutes before 8 p.m.
“She admitted that the livelihood loan was a fraud and that she was just tricking the vendors in order to earn money,” Tumulak said.
Tumulak, who is the deputy mayor for police matters, said he called Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino to ask about the alleged livelihood loan, but it was denied by Dino.
Yu is from Barangay Mambaling.
Tumulak said they found out that Yu was already imprisoned at the Cebu City Jail for four months last year due to similar offense of swindling and duping. She got out of prison in April 2016.
During the apprehension, barangay tanods secured from Yu a list of her victims which numbered more than 30, according to Tumulak. But they were not able to confiscate the money. He was told by the tanods that Yu threw it while trying to run away.
Tumulak said members of the Presidential Security Group sent by Dino went to the barangay hall and brought Yu to the Pardo Police Station.
He added that Dino plans to visit and talk to Yu on Thursday.