A FAKE lawyer was arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Central Visayas past 5 p.m., Tuesday, May 9, in an entrapment inside a mall in Barangay Lamac, Consolacion, Cebu.
The suspect was identified as Noel Maracuelo, a ship captain.
Investigation showed that Maracuelo allegedly tricked Kirby Magdadaro by introducing himself as a lawyer. He offered to help Magdadaro with his real estate case pending in the Liloan Municipal Circuit Trial Court.
The case, however, was dismissed.
Magdadaro sought another opinion from a lawyer, who said the pleadings were filled with errors.
He paid more than P30,000 to the suspect and has a balance of P20,000.
Magdadaro approached NBI and asked for an investigation.
Special Investigator Agapito Gierran said they checked the roll of attorneys at the Office the Bar Confidant and Maracuelo was not listed.
The attorney's identification number belongs to another lawyer.
“We found dili siya tinuod nga abogado (out that he wasn’t real lawyer),” Gierran said.
Maracuelo was arrested after he received P15,000 from Magdadaro. He will be charged with violation of the Revised Penal Code, including estafa and falsification of document. (VoxPop Cebu)
