Pastor Billy is now detained at the NBI-7 detention facility. | Mae Fhel Gom-os
CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 53-year-old man who claims to be a ‘pastor’ of a religious congregation was arrested for large scale illegal recruitment and estafa during an entrapment operation last June 10 in a mall in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City by operatives of National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7).
Attorney Renan Oliva, NBI-7 director, identified the accused as Bernardo Albarando also known as Pastor Billy, a resident of Argao town in southern Cebu.
Oliva said Pastor Billy promised at least 10 individuals to secure a job as factory workers in New Zealand with a monthly salary of P178,000.
The complainants allegedly paid at least P160,00 each for the processing of their employment documents.
But they are yet to receive their papers to date.
Oliva said Pastor Billy used a “bogus” email address in his operations. He would communicate with his victims using an email address which he created using the name of a company that is based in Auckland, New Zealand.
But the company denied that this was their official email address.
Pastor Billy, in an interview, denied the accusations against him. / dcb