‘Johnnie Water’: Man jailed, accused of selling fake expensive liquor in Cebu City

CDN Digital Photo by Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police here arrested a man for allegedly duping delivery riders in a scam that involved selling fake bottles of expensive liquor.

The Mambaling Police Station confirmed apprehending a certain Greman Louise Malinao, 44, on Wednesday dawn, March 20.

He was accused of defrauding a delivery driver, identified as Charles Spencer Belocyra, of P1,200. His modus: selling bottles of high-end alcoholic beverages that contained water instead of liquor.

READ: Washing machine thief arrested in Cebu City

Based on initial reports from the Mambaling Police Station, Malinao booked a delivery service from Belocyra, with the latter paying P1,200 to the suspect.

The delivery order was for a single bottle of blended Scotch whisky.

Fake liquor

When Belocyra reached the location pinned on his map to deliver the item, he said no one would accept it.

READ: Fake feng shui expert busted for theft in QC

Upon checking the item, he found out that the bottle was not filled with liquor but water. This led the victim to suspect that he might have fallen into a scam.

He went back to Malinao and confronted him. Belocyra then discovered that Malinao was the seller and buyer at the same time.

Belocyra complained about the incident before the Mambaling Police Station who then arrested Malinao.

READ: P4.5M worth of alcoholic drinks recovered in fake hijacking

Initially, Malinao denied the accusations hurled against him. In an interview, he claimed that a certain ‘Mon’ told him to book the delivery service.

But the suspect later admitted that he was aware of the modus operandi he participated in, together with other scammers.

Malinao will be facing charges of estafa and is currently detained in the Mambaling Police Station.