P14-K cash remittance sent to Bulacan, collected in Cebu

The supposed recipient of a cash remittance in Bulacan got an unpleasant surprise when he learned that the money he borrowed from a friend in Quezon City had already been collected from a remittance center—in Cebu.

 

Gilbert De Guzman said he found himself twice deeper in debt after the P14,000 he borrowed from his friend Jonathan Pascual was allegedly lost to an apparent scammer.

 

"Ang pinresent niyang ID is De Guzman, Gilbert, Palete po yata. P yung middle initial. V as in victory yung middle initial ko," De Guzman said in an interview on GMA News' "24 Oras."

 

"Hiniram ko lang siya tapos kailangan ko siyang bayaran pero hindi ko naman na-receive. Parang naging doble yung utang ko tuloy," he added.

 

De Guzman he went to the San Rafael Branch of LBC Express Padala on August 19 to collect the cash sent to him by Jonathan Pascual.  He was told that the money had already been taken from its branch in Mandaue, Cebu.

 

"Mahirap din e kasi hard earened money pano sila makakapag-release ng pera nang ganu ganun na lang," Pascual said.



The management of LBC didn't grant an interview on camera but said the two friends could have given the tracking number of the remittance to another person.  De Guzman and Pascual, however, stressed that they were the only ones who knew of the tracking number.

 

LBC admitted it wasn't the first time they received such a complaint.

 

"Kelangan ma resolve at maimbestigahan ang case," said Virna Venturanza of Global Corporate Communications in a telephone interview.  She said LBC should be accountable if it was proven that the money was lost due to the negligence of the remittance firm. —NB, GMA News