Nigerian nabbed for selling fake visas

Written by Efren B. Chavez
Sunday, 17 June 2012 17:36
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A Nigerian national was arrested in an entrapment operation in Cavite for selling fake visas to two Kenyan students in Cebu City.
The suspect was identified as Thomas Magnus, 40, who had been living for several years with his Filipina wife and children in Bacoor, Cavite.
Supt. Romeo Baleros, chief of the Cavite police intelligence branch, on Saturday said Magnus was arrested at around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday inside a branch of a money transfer courier in Barangay Molino 1, as the suspect tried to claim some cash his victims had wired to him.
Baleros said two Kenyan students named Clyde Wende and Njiri Elias Owiti, both 23 and students of the San Carlos University in Cebu, had earlier filed a complaint at the police Provincial Public Safety Company in Cavite against Magnus.
It was not clear how the students met the Nigerian a year ago but, Baleros said, the suspect introduced himself as an employee of the Bureau of Immigration and offered to help the students renew their expired visas for a fee.
Baleros said the two students had paid more than P150,000 but later found out that the visas Magnus had sent them were fake. Baleros said Magnus offered to replace the fake visas and attempted to again collect money from the students, which led to the police entrapment.
The police filed charges of estafa and swindling against the suspect.