Woman accused of scamming foreigner nabbed in Mandaue

Jhea R. Jualo, 24, is facing estafa charges for allegedly defrauding an American national. | CDN Digital Photo / Paul Lauro

CEBU CITY, Philippines – A 24-year-old woman is now facing estafa charges for allegedly defrauding an American national at least P1.5 million in what authorities described as a classic case of ‘love scam.’

Enforcers from the National Bureau of Investigation in Cebu District Office (NBI-Cebdo) arrested a certain Jhea Ramos Jualo in an entrapment operation in a coffee shop in Mandaue City, Cebu last April 24.

The cases filed against Jualo were filed on Monday, April 28.

READ: Australian police warn vs PH-based online ‘love’ scams

The complainant, who requested to be identified only as ‘Paul’, accused Jualo, a resident of Maasin City, Leyte, of duping him in a relationship for financial gain.

Apparently, the suspect had already managed to siphon off at least P1.5 million worth of cash from the victim. These do not include other valuables Paul had bought personally for Jualo like a laptop and jewelry.

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Love scam?

Initial investigations showed that Jualo learned about Paul when her brother, identified only as RJ, tried to connect with the foreigner during a relief effort for typhoon victims in Maasin City, Leyte in 2023.

RJ then introduced Paul to his sister, Jhea, through online messaging. The suspect and the victim immediately started exchanging messages that eventually led to a relationship.

Paul’s legal counsel, lawyer Athena Salas, said it was Jhea who proposed for the two to get into a relationship after which the suspect started asking for money.

At first, Paul had no suspicions when Jualo, a call center agent, started asking small amounts of cash to allegedly help her family in Leyte.

“They still have not met in person but when she tried to ask for P300,000 in cash, he started to doubt about the seriousness of their relationship,” Salas said in Cebuano.

Condominium unit purchase

Recently, Paul received a request from Jualo, asking P2.4 million in cash as downpayment for a condominium unit to relocate her family from Leyte to Cebu.

She apparently told the victim that the she intends to buy the unit which costs a total of P14 million.

“That’s when the victim reached out to us for help, believing that he might have been scammed.” Salas added.

Paul then flew to the Philippines, and filed a complaint before the NBI-Cebdo which, in turn, launched an entrapment operation that led to Jualo’s arrest.

Jualo, for her part, denied the allegations hurled against her, adding that she had been honest to Paul that the funds would go to her family’s needs.

“My brother is unemployed. My father is a PWD (person with disability). I only used the money to sustain our needs. And if there’s some extra, we would spend it for leisure,” Jualo said in Cebuano.

Jualoo and Paul finally met in person shortly after NBI-Cebdo arrested the suspect who had asked forgiveness from the victim.

Paul, however, is intent to pursue the case against her.