Police yesterday arrested a man who allegedly swindled a Lapu-Lapu City-based businessman by posing as a member of a cooperative based in the neighboring town of Cordova.Rene del Rio, 26, of barangay Poblacion, was presented to the media yesterday following an entrapment operation conducted by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7).
He denied the charge. Businessman Zandro Augusto said Del Rio fooled him into paying P60,000 as an investment in the Cordova Cooperative only to find out the contact was not a member of the cooperative. Del Rio first approached the businessman a few weeks ago with the offer to invest in a cooperative. At first, Augusto declined, saying he had no money. To convince Augusto that the offer was a good idea, Del Rio said he would make a P10,000 downpayment with the cooperative on Augusto’s behalf provided Augusto pay the remaining P50,000 later and refund Del Rio for the P10,000. In the following weeks, Augusto gave Del Rio the P60,000. After that, Augusto never heard from Del Rio again. Augusto said he checked with the Cordova Cooperative and found out they had no member by the name of Rene del Rio. Augusto approached the CIDG-7, which set up a trap. Augusto contacted Del Rio on the pretext that his relatives also wanted to invest in the cooperative. They met at Augusto’s cellular phone shop on Osmeńa Street. When Del Rio received the money, CIDG-7 personnel pounced on him. Del Rio denied being a swindler, but admitted that he had used some of Augusto’s money. Senior Insp. Melgar Devaras Deveras urged anyone who may have also fallen victim to Del Rio’s maneuvers to approach the police. Augusto was in the limelight in 2002 when his relationship with Assistant Cebu City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro became public. His estranged wife Cherry was shot dead in Cebu City by a policeman, who killed himself shortly after. Cherry had suspected her spouse of having an affair and filed a case against the prosecutor for immorality and grave misconduct. | 
