Para±aque city: The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested three Filipinos and six Indian nationals for their alleged involvement in an 'assume balance-talon' scheme. In a statement on Friday, NBI Director Jaime Santiago identified the suspects as Teotima Batutay, Rose Torion, and Michael Castulo, along with Indian nationals Sajjan Sarkar, Sai Charan, Kulvatnh Thati, Gayatri Sarma, Ray Anand, and Nithin Kamepalli. They were apprehended on June 24 in Para±aque City and have been charged with carnapping and syndicated estafa.

According to Philippines News Agency, the complainant reported that he was unable to pay the monthly amortization of the subject vehicle to a bank and offered it for sale under the "assume balance" process. The vehicle was initially assumed by a car dealer, who then transferred it to Batutay, who allegedly sold it to Castulo. Castulo, along with Sarkar, mortgaged the vehicle to Anand for PHP120,000. When the bank pursued the complainant after the amortizations were overdue, they sought the vehicle's recovery through Castulo. Castulo then demanded PHP450,000 from the complainant, threatening to dismantle the car if the money, eventually reduced to PHP250,000, was not paid. The complainant's report to the NBI led to the suspects' arrest and the recovery of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, the NBI-Organized and Transnational Crimes Division (NBI-OTCD) and the Bureau of Immigration-Fugitive Search Unit (BI-FSU) also arrested nine Korean nationals in Para±aque City for their involvement in an online loan fraud scheme. The arrested individuals were identified as Han Jaeseong, Lee Hyunwoo, Kwon Yeon Ji, Park Kwangjun, Kim Heejun, Jeong Seongae, Bae Sehwan, Ryu Juhsang, and Kim Youngseop. Their illegal activities were uncovered when NBI and BI operatives executed a mission order against two other foreign fugitives at a condominium unit in the city on Wednesday evening. The operatives discovered computer workstations running multiple applications with foreign-language scripts, indicative of financial transactions and online communication platforms. The setup and real-time display of these systems raised reasonable suspicion of illegal online lending transactions.

The NBI stated that the arrested individuals are temporarily detained at the NBI's Organized and Transnational Crime Division and will be turned over to the BI Warden Facility for safekeeping upon the completion of standard booking and documentation procedures.