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If proven true, this is what we call a high-end scam.
“Kristine Marjorie dela Cruz — proprietor of Penderie Boutique located at Unit 101, FSS Building II, No. 18 Sct. Tuazon corner Sct. Castor, Bgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City — was charged with estafa before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for selling fake Hermes bags worth over PHP8 million to one of her customers,” reports Cory Martinez on Journal Online.
The report noted: “The case stemmed from the complaints of Yolande Sze who claimed that out of the 16 Hermes Birkin bags she purchased from Dela Cruz on several occasions, only two, which were collectively worth P1,480,000 were authentic.”
According to Sze “sometime in October 2012, one of her friends told her that he had chanced upon the respondent’s boutique that offers for sale of brand new designer bags.”
So, Sze and her sister went to the said boutique where they met Dela Cruz who assured them of the genuineness of the high-end Hermes bags.
The report said that De la Cruz further assured Sze and her sister that the bags she was selling were from a ‘main supplier’ who ‘belongs to upper class of the society enjoying superior economic status.’
The buyer-seller relationship between Sze and De la Cruz continued until sometime in the early part of third quarter of 2013. In all of those transactions, Sze was able to buy 16 pieces of Hermes Birkin bags with total amount of PHP9,140,000.
During the said transactions, Dela Cruz never issued receipts to her as proof of the purchase.
However, later in 2013, one of Sze’s friends noticed the bag she was carrying have some signs of being fake. This prompted Sze to consult several bag experts. In fact, she was also forced to seek opinion from Hermes France, where it was confirmed that 14 of the 16 bags she purchased from Dela Cruz were fake.
The report revealed that “In their joint counter-affidavit, Dela Cruz and her co-respondents denied the allegations, saying it is impossible for the complainant to have purchased those bags from the boutique because during such time, the corporation did not exist.” But then, Assistant City Prosecutor Ralph Michael Cataquiz “ruled that Dela Cruz defrauded complainant by delivering her the subject 14 fake Hermes bags to her prejudice in the amount of PHP8,595,000.”
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