The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrests a former employee (left) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.鈥檚 family for estafa, serving the warrant in a Pasay City hotel on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025. (Photo from the CIDG)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� A former employee of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.鈥檚 family was arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for estafa, the police said on Friday.
According to the report, the CIDG implemented an arrest warrant against Simeon Sander Dela Cruz III on Thursday in a Pasay City hotel.
In an interview on Friday, CIDG Director Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre said the suspect was a 鈥減rivate employee鈥� of the Marcoses but was let go.
Torre did not say when the suspect stopped working for the First Family.
However, despite no longer working for the Marcoses, the suspect was allegedly using his affiliation with the First Family to convince victims that he could facilitate government contracts for a 3- to 5-percent commission, according to the CIDG.
Torre said the suspect was supposedly introducing himself as an undersecretary and using his photos at official functions the President attended to back up his narrative.
The CIDG chief alleged that the suspect had been engaged in the scheme over the past year.
鈥淲hen we arrested him last night, he was wearing a respectable barong. He was wearing a pi帽a barong at a five-star hotel,鈥� Torre said in an interview in Camp Crame on Friday.
鈥淗e was doing things that were misrepresentations that definitely won鈥檛 be tolerated by the principals he was using, which was the First Family,鈥� he added.
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The CIDG said the operation stemmed from an order by the Office of the Special Envoy for Transnational Crimes, which is under the Office of the President, following complaints from the suspect鈥檚 victims.
Torre said the suspect already posted a P90,000 bail.
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Earlier in February, the CIDG nabbed an individual convincing others that they could fast-track emission testing applications by claiming to be connected with the Department of Transportation and claiming to be a cousin of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.