MANILA, Philippines—The tenacity of the Filipina wife of an American lawyer led to the arrest by National Bureau of Investigation agents of a Nigerian national allegedly responsible for credit card fraud and identity theft.
Editha Fones befriended Nigerian suspect Benson Umeh, 47, of Diliman, Quezon City, through three days of text message and phone call exchanges until the latter agreed to meet up with her in an internet café at a mall in Manila where bureau agents arrested him.
Fones told the INQUIRER that when she discovered on Sept. 27 that her husband and retired Oklahoma County judge pro temps, James Fones, had amassed an inexplicable California credit card expense of US$18,974,058 in the country, she did some sleuthing of her own and dropped by each of all 19 stores where the purchases were made.
Her detective work paid off when she got a single description from each store of James Fones being a black foreigner in his 40s, who showed them a California Driver’s License of the same name but bearing his picture as proof of his identity.
She then found the lead she needed when one of the stores at the SM Mall of Asia yielded a receipt where “James Fones” had written down his mobile phone number.
On Oct. 3, Fones called up the number and pretended to befriend the English-speaking man on the other end of the line. “He told me his name was John but would not give me his last name. I then convinced him that we should set up an ‘eyeball’ (personal meeting). He agreed,” she explained.
She then tipped off agents of the NBI Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) to the scheduled meeting on Oct. 7. “He constantly changed our meeting place. At first he said we should meet somewhere in Makati City then he changed his mind and finally said the mall in Manila is a good place to meet.”
When agents pounced on Umeh, he confessed to using Fones’ credit card but would not disclose how he got hold of the card as well as the driver‘s license.
At a press conference Monday, where the Nigerian national who has been in the country since 1993 was presented, he claimed to have bought the credit card and driver’s license for US$300 from a certain “Lopez.” He, however, did not specify how he had met the Filipino seller.
NBI director Nestor Mantaring pointed out that what the suspect used was a replacement credit card for Fones’ expired one. Bureau agents are still investigating how he came by the card as well as the driver’s license.
“The card may have been intercepted while in transit,” Mantaring stressed, adding that agents of the AFCCD are still conducting follow-up operations against Umeh’s accomplices.
The American lawyer pointed out that the only people hurt by the fraud was the credit card company which had borne all the expenses. “He (Umeh) comes from a country that is very, very poor and where crimes like this abound. I hold no malice against Mr. Benson but I think there is a lot more going on more than him. He even called my bank and convinced the bank that it was me calling. Someone did a lot of background work. There are more people involved,” Mr. Fones told reporters, even as he was all praises for his wife for the work she did for the arrest of the culprit.
“I could never find a better wife than her. She is the best wife any man could ever have,” he gushed.
Umeh remains in the custody of the NBI after a charge of violation of Republic Act 8484 or the Access Device Act was filed against him before the city prosecutor’s office. (Source: inquirer.net) ?