PNP-HPG TELLS PUBLIC TO REMAIN WARY OF MODERN CARNAPPING TRENDS
PHILIPPINE National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) director, Brigadier General Eleazar P. Matta has urged Filipinos anew to be wary of modern carnapping trends wherein glib-tongue syndicate members easily run away with the motor vehicles of their targets .
The official said that unlike before where car thieves steal unattended motor vehicles or forcibly take them thru gunpoint, today’s car theft syndicates are now involved in the so-called ‘Rent-Tangay, Assume Balance Scam or the Pasala-Benta scheme, the Pasalo-Benta-Bawi, Labas Casa Through Loan Accommodation (a.k.a. Labas-Casa-Talon), and Labas-Casa-Talon Using Fictitious Name/s.
Described by the PNP-HPG as “technical carnapping,” these modern car theft schemes have victimized hundreds, if not thousands of people over the years. This year alone, PNP-HPG agents have already recovered dozens of motor vehicles which were stolen thru those schemes.
Under the Rent-Tangay (a.k.a Rent-Tangay-Sangla), the car thief poses as a client of a car rental business. Once in possession of the rented motor vehicle, the suspect will pawn or sell the vehicle to other persons using fraudulent Land Transportation Office documents.
Under the Assume-Balance Scam (a.k.a. Pasalo-Benta), the car thief will pose as a buyer of an encumbered vehicle, promising that he/she will continue paying for the monthly amortizations. Once the suspect acquires the vehicle, it will be sold to others without the registered owner’s knowledge..
On the other hand, the ‘Pasalo-Benta-Bawi’ scheme involves a suspect who secretly installs a Global Positioning Satellite or GPS in his/her vehicle which will be deliberately sold to casino habitues.
The suspect will then report to the police that he/she is a victim of an Assume-Balance scam and file a case. Using the GPS, the con artist will be able to track the vehicle and recover it from the unsuspecting buyer.
The ‘Labas-Casa-Talon’ scheme involves a syndicate whose members convinces a potential victim who can pass credit investigations to have his/her name used for a car loan application.
The victim is then given advanced payment depending on the type of the vehicle being sought. Once the vehicle is released, the suspect will tell the victim it will be rented out to hotels and companies. After some weeks, the vehicle will disappear, sold in the countryside with the use of fake registration papers.
The ‘Labas-Casa-Talon Using Fictitious Name scheme involves members of a syndicate recruiting company insiders in order to secure a car loan. Once the vehicle is released, the suspects who have been using fake documents in all their transactions will silently disappear with the vehicle to the chagrin of their victims.
Brig. Gen. Matta said the public must be fully aware of these modus operandi and should immediately contact their office in case they come across such scam.
PNP chief, General Rommel Francisco D. Marbil, himself a former HPG director said they have sent to jail a number of glib-tongued members of syndicates involved in so-called ‘Rent-Sangla, Rent-Tangay’ scheme which continue to victimize Filipinos to date.
Both Gen. Marbil and Brig. Gen. Matta said the PNP-HPG really needs all the help they need from the public and other law enforcement agencies and government regulators to stop the ‘Rent-Sangla/Rent-Tangay’ scheme and other forms of ‘technical carnapping.’
In the past, some rogue police and Land Transportation Office personnel have been monitored and investigated for conniving with groups involved in the ‘Rent-Sangla, Rent-Tangay’ scheme.
The suspects are known for facilitating the transfer of stolen vehicle to another owner thru the use of spurious LTO registration papers. A few years ago, , some 60 ‘Rent-Tangay’ victims sought the help of the Department of Justice in investigating their cases.
The PNP-HPG had also previously warned the public to be wary of a car theft ring whose members are using the online FB Market Site to sell ‘total wreck vehicles’ which actually are stolen SUVs, cars or motorcycles.
Since the start of the year, dozens of motor vehicles stolen thru the above-named schemes have been recovered by the PNP-HPG in separate anti-carnapping operations nationwide.
One of the vehicles: a stolen Toyota Altis was intercepted by patrolling operatives of the Regional Highway Patrol Unit 4-A along Felix Avenue in Barangay San Isidro in Cainta, Rizal
When inspected, the vehicle which was reported missing last September 2024 while parked unattended inside Village East Executive Village in Cainta yielded three pairs of license plates. One of the plates: NEJ 5034 has been listed as stolen.
Brig. Gen. Matta said that six other vehicles tied to a fraudulent ‘Rent-Sangla’ scheme were also recovered by the RHPU3 in separate operations in Olongapo City and in Castillejos and Subic municipalities in Zambales on the same day.
The owners of the vehicles: a Toyota Hilux with plate no. CCP 1187; a Honda Civic with conduction sticker 136607; a Toyota Riaze with plate no. CCD 3799; a Toyota Vios with plate no. CCK 2815; a Toyota Hilux Conquest with conduction sticker S2C497; and a Toyota Vios with plate no. NII 9566, requested the help of the RHPU3 in recovering their vehicles which they lost to glib-tongued suspects involved in the ‘Rent-Sangla, Rent-Tangay’ scheme.
In San Fernando City in La Union, RHPU1 operatives on Tuesday last week impounded a blackish red mica Toyota Innova which was found sporting a plate number issued to a similar vehicle.
Brig. Gen. Matta said that his men discovered the ‘Doble Plaka’ scheme after a local resident informed them about the presence of two Toyota Innova wagons sporting the same plate numbers. A check showed that one of them had a genuine license plates issued by the LTO while the other sported a fake plate with the same details.
The vehicle in question also was found to be having tampered engine and chassis numbers prompting the RHPU1 top impound it. The original vehicle was returned to its registered owner after he presented proper documents.
