A man claiming to be a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) was arrested Wednesday for extorting over P500,000 from an engineer in San Juan City.
Senior Supt. Ariel Fulo, San Juan City Police chief, identified the suspect as Mario Luis Gonzales, 67, of Barangay Sta. Lucia, San Juan City.
Armed with an arrest warrant, members of San Juan City Police warrant and subpoena unit led by SPO4 Eduardo Fronda nabbed Gonzales at his house around 1:20 p.m. Wednesday
“The operation was launched after authorities received a tip from an informant that Gonzales was seen in the neighborhood and after a month-long of surveillance,” Fulo said.
Judge Maximo Leon of Makati City Regional Trial Court Branch 143 issued the warrant of arrest against Gonzales for robbery extortion on November 17, 2017.
Court records showed that on April 21, 2015 in Makati City, Gonzales and two other suspects extorted P550,000 from Noel Franco, an engineer at a construction firm.
“The suspects who claimed to be members of the Central Committee of the CPP-NPA contacted Franco through his cellphone and demanded the said amount as an aid to the revolutionary movement,” Fulo said.
“The suspect even threatened Franco to kill his family if he refused to give their demand,” he added.
A report showed that his two cohorts were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation in an entrapment operation in Makati City, but Gonzales was able to escape. (Jhon Aldrin Casinas)