Three Filipinos to stand trial for extortion of French tourist

The People's Court of Ha Noi will prosecute three Filipinos for swindling money and property from a French traveller in a game of cards.
The arrestees were Bautista Eduardo Sr Manaloto, 63, his son Bautista Eduardo Jr Ramirez, 41, and Ramirez's wife, Balleza Augustina Ero, 43.
In late May, the Pilipino couple met the French traveller, a woman, while walking near the Quan Su-Trang Thi intersection in Ha Noi. The couple invited the traveller back to their guest house for dinner and a friendly game of cards with their father and another Filipino guy named Onit.
In the beginning, the French woman gained the upper hand, winning US$2,000 from Manaloto. The man then slapped down five bundles of cash purportedly worth $50,000 onto the table.
Onit cajoled the woman into continuing the game, and so she put in her laptop and a camera worth about $3,000. Since it wasn't enough to match the pot, she also set down another $800 in cash, four mobile phones worth about VND105 million and VND28 million in cash from her hotel on Hang Bun Street. She also cashed in a check for $1,300.
After returning to the couple's guest house, the woman traveller gave all her money to Ero and she was handed over a sealed leather bag in return, in which she was told was the $50,000 that Manaloto had shown her before, and all the cards.
Thinking there was nothing to be suspicious about, the French woman didn't bother to check the bag, and brought it straight to her hotel with the intention of resuming the game in the morning.
She waited for one of them to pick her up the next day to continue the game, but it was all in vain. She finally realised she'd been hoodwinked when she opened the bag and saw that it was nothing but bundles of $1 bills each covered with a single $100 note.
Vietnamese police confiscated the laptop and some other things from the guest house, located at 612 De La Thanh Street. The gang of swindlers pleaded guilty, but the man named Onit had already gone on the lam. Further investigations into the matter are currently underway.