DAVAO CITY (December 11) —Â The National Bureau of Investigation arrested an extortionist victimizing seafarers, by collecting huge some in exchange for the release of certificates of proficiency (COP).
NBI Director Dante Gierran in a press statement on Monday said, the Anti-Organized and Transnational Crime Division arrested Malone Deleon Morales last Friday following an extortion complaint filed by a victim who claimed that the suspect demanded PHP20,000 in exchange for a Certificate of Proficiency in navigation.
Morales told the complainant that his certificate cannot be issued he lacks service experience.
He asked the victim to surrender his Regulation II/4 certificate. The matter was then referred to the Legal Division of the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina).
On December 5, the complainant received a call from a certain “Christian” who later turned out to be Malone, who told him that it is easy to have the certificate issued in exchange for the amount.
The complainant then went to the Marina legal division, which in turn advised him to report the matter to the NBI.
Morales asked the victim to pay the P20,000 up to Dec. 7 and threatened to file a complaint against him if the amount was not delivered, prompting the victim to seek help from the
NBI which set up an entrapment operation. –Newsline with PNA report
