A MAN who introduces himself as a second cousin of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. has been charged with syndicated estafa and estafa before the Department of Justice by three complainants who claimed to have lost P20 million to the former after believing he was really a presidential kin.

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said the suspect, Mario Pacusar Marcos, has been confirmed to be not in any way related to the Marcoses but has been using the Marcos name to get money from his targets whom he promises big government contracts and even appointment to lucrative positions.

“We have verified that the suspect who even ran for a congressional seat in Bicol is from Solano, Nueva Viscaya, not from Ilocos Norte.

He is using the Marcos surname and presenting pictures of the President, other members of the First Family, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Senate President Migz Zubiri and other top government officials to his targets to make them believe he is really a Marcos relative,” said Gilbert DC Cruz.

The accused has also turned out to be already out on bail for previous estafa cases and the subject of a Hold-Departure Order.

His License to Own and Possess Firearms for his 25 guns was also revoked by the PNP Firearms and Explosives Office, said Cruz.

The complainants were identified as public relations consultant Jennylei Caberte, contractor Phebie Dy and retired Army General Arnulfo Jose Marcos. All claimed to have been duped by the suspect who claimed to be a cousin of PBBM

Caberte, the chief executive officer of Media Blitz PR Consultancy, claimed she was duped by the suspect into financing her PR events and press conferences and spent over P13 million after all checks issued by the accused bounced for lack of funds.

She said that the accused failed to answer her calls and repeated appeals to settle his debts.

Dy said the accused got P12 million from her in exchange for supposed ‘big-ticket’ government projects.

She said that when she asked him to return her money after he failed to fulfill his promise, all the accused gave her was an unnotarized certificate of title with a deed of absolute sale with no valid ownership on the title.

Retired Gen. Marcos said he was duped into believing that Mario Pacursa Marcos had a project with TESLA and thus was convinced to invest his pension savings in it.

The TESLA project turned out to be a hoax, the retired official said.

Mario Pacursa Marcos tricked the retired soldier into investing P800,000 which he borrowed from the Armed Forces and Police Savings and Loan Association, Inc. in his supposed partnership with TESLA Technologies.

He said that the money was meant for the studies of his son.

Mario Pacursa Marcos has introduced himself as the CEO of Smart Citi Teknologi to the complainants.

The company is supposed to have inked a deal with TESLA Technologies to transfer a Czech technology on diagnostic health device and a magnetic engine to the country

According to Caberte, the suspect duped her into financing PR events and various press conferences at the Manila Hotel which caused her some P13 million.

The press conferences supposedly discussed the company’s plan to create an internet-based platform for the smart city program that would provide connectivity for various applications, including households, smart homes, and smart cities.

The complainants, through their lawyer, said it would be very unfair to President Marcos Jr. to call the accused a ‘Marcos,’ thus their decision to identify him as Mario Pacursa Marcos.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon