Car theft victims forced to sign deed of sale
MANILA, Philippines – Here’s a new modus operandi by car thieves.
Police yesterday said car robbers, after forcibly taking the vehicles from their victims, would ask the victims to sign a blank paper which were then made into a “deed of sale,” which they could use to sell legally the stolen vehicles.
Inspector Enrico Figueroa, head of the theft and robbery section of the Quezon City Police District, said they discovered the new modus operandi by car robbers after a suspected carjacker was arrested on Tuesday.
“The car robbers asked the victim to sign a blank paper which will be made into a deed of sale because it would be easier for the robbers to sell the car without the buyer suspecting it’s stolen,” Figueroa said.
Figueroa identified the arrested suspect as Arnold Maneja, 41, of Quezon City.
The police official said Maneja was arrested in the parking area of a popular mall after he was positively identified by Cazzle Magistrado as one of the four armed men who took her gray Sportivo van at gunpoint on March 28.
Magistrado, in her statement to the police, recounted that she, her two sons, and a female friend were about to board their vehicle when the suspects appeared.
She said that she, her sons, and her friend were forced to board a green Starex (WJH-156) while her Sportivo was driven by the suspects.
While aboard the Starex, Magistrado said she was forced to sign blank papers before she and her companions were dropped off in Malolos, Bulacan.
Figueroa said the victim alerted the police when she saw Maneja at the mall parking lot.
Maneja was armed with a .45 caliber pistol when he was arrested, police also told reporters.