STI College Munoz EDSA - FRAUD Internet

This case involves a fraud claim for 49,851.72PH ($935.97/892.33 EUR) against a student and STI.

JUL 21, 2021:      I meet an STI student named Joanna Mariz Yazon online, who claimed to need money to finish school so she could support her family. Gave me her WhatsApp of +63 9214061414 and said she needed $750 for her entire school year. Yazon said she only had PayPal and GCash and could not afford to open a bank account.

JUL 22, 2021:      Yazon sent an STI assessment form for 32,937.84  pesos on STI letterhead, but the school year noted 3 times on the form was 2002--NOT 2021 to 2022. Yazon also said she forgot she had a balance owed of $700 from last term that she thought her mother had paid. We contacted STI immediately and made an inquiry to verify her story, which STI received and promised to answer within “3 working days.” In fact, STI did not respond for 3.5 months (NOV 5, 2021) and only after we escalated the complaint ticket to STI’s Head Office on OCT 25, 2021.

JUL 24, 2021:      Yazon asked for tuition help for one-month summer semester and final semester.

JUL 30, 2021:      Yazon claimed STI could not give assessment for final semester in advance. Also claimed we could not pay STI directly because STI’s bank account had been “hacked.” Yazon said her final semester would be internship and On Job Training, so tuition would be less. Yazon sent her school ID from 2018 and a new assessment form for 32,937.84  pesos on STI letterhead. We agreed to pay if Yazon sent receipt promptly after payment was made. When she agreed, we made a PayPal transfer of 32,969.40 PH to joannamarizmaganda@gmail.com to cover her tuition and PayPal fees.

JUL 31, 2021:     Yazon complained money sent was $28 less than tuition because of PayPal fees on her end.

AUG 2, 2021:      Yazon claimed PH would be in lockdown as of AUG 5.

AUG 5, 2021:      Yazon claimed money sent was still on HOLD. Yazon also said she had no national ID, health insurance card, or newer school ID to prove identity other than the old one from 2018 sent.

AUG 6, 2021:      Yazon confirms she is enrolled but will not get a receipt for tuition payment until after lockdown ends.

AUG 10-11, 2021:  Yazon claims she needs a new phone for $260 to $400 because she cannot download online school materials on old phone. We agreed to send her 16,882.32PH for a new phone on promise of getting receipt after payment made.

AUG 12, 2021:    Yazon claims she need further help to pay tuition for her final semester/internship.

AUG 19, 2021:    Yazon sends new assessment form for tuition, asking for 40,635.00 PH. STI later confirms this  assessment form is a fraud. We remind Yazon that we have not received a receipt proving payment of first tuition.

AUG 20, 2021:    Yazon said she will ask STI for an online receipt, but says STI prefers giving it in person. We also remind her we still need receipt for purchase of phone.

AUG 21, 2021:    Yazon sends tuition receipt, which STI later confirms is a fraud.

AUG 22, 2021:    Yazon presses for payment of final semester/internship fees.

AUG 23, 2021:    Yazon sends 2 phone receipts where hand or box cover the name. We reject those.

AUG 24, 2021:    We ask Yazon to send phone receipt with hand removed. Yazon claims she told us she had severe UTI Infection (untrue) and did not have money to pay for drugs, so used our extra money not spent on phone (4292.32 PH) for treatment. There is no proof how this money was spent.

AUG 25-26, 2021:   Yazon sends a new phone receipt for 12,590 PH but a label is pasted over her real name. We consider it a fraud and decline to help her more.

AUG 27, 2021:    Yazon asks me to pay her internship fees personally if my company will not help her further.

AUG 28, 2021:    Yazon disappears after my company and I refuse to send her more money.

NOV 5, 2021:      Princess Mary Velasquez, School Administrator of STI Munoz EDSA, replied and confirmed 40,635.00 PH internship fee was fake and that Yazon had already graduated in OCT 2021.

NOV 11, 2021:    Princess Mary Velasquez states Yazon’s ID from 2018 was not correctly validated and that the school receipt Yazon sent for payment of her first tuition (32,960.40 PH) was fake.

NOV 14, 2021:    We ask STI to invalidate the payment of 32,969.40 PH based on STI claims made about penalties for unauthorized alteration of STI documents on its assessment forms.

NOV 16, 2021:    STI asks us to communicate with Yazon directly as she may be a “victim,” but confirms it has “filed a case against her.” Our office agrees to open a “dialogue” with her, but doubt it will be productive.

NOV 17, 2021:    STI provides Yazon’s contact information and claims “We have advised her that she needs to return all the monies sent to her by Kinfauns LLC.”

NOV 17 to NOV 28, 2021   We engage in a fruitless dialogue with Yazon, where she admits to her fraud but continues to invent excuses why she should not be held accountable (i.e., grandmother died in OCT, she was a poor single mother with child, had been raped, etc.), while falsely claiming STI had already let her off the hook for her criminal acts. We ask her for a repayment plan she will commit to, but ultimately does not provide one, nor does she ever make any payments to our PayPal account .

NOV 25, 2021     Sensing further discussion with Yazon is useless, we contact Princess Mary Velasquez at STI and offer to propose a solution that we want imposed on the student by STI.

NOV 29, 2021     Velasquez agrees to hear our proposal and see how STI can “assist” us.

DEC 1, 2021         Velasquez confirms that Yazon’s story about STI letting her off the hook was an invention; that STI was withholding her documents until a resolution was in place; and that STI was on our “side regarding this matter.”

DEC 7, 2021         On behalf of our company lawyers, we send a written proposal to STI to settle this case against Yazon.

DEC 9, 2021         Velasquez acknowledges receipt of our proposal and promises to get back to us after consulting the Home Office (h*o).

JAN 3, 2022         After we send a follow-up message on DEC 31, Velasquez claims she is still waiting for response from the h*o, but assures us Yazon’s academic records are “still on hold until this matter is resolved.”

FEB 18, 2022       When we hear nothing, we send another follow-up message to STI asking about our proposal.

FEB 22, 2022       On behalf of STI, Velasquez asks for more documents about our company that have no bearing on the complaint. We question the need for documents, as proof of payment through PayPal, the forged STI documents, and quotes from Yazon herself sent to STI seem conclusive.

FEB 23, 2022       For the first time, Velasquez claims that while STI’s case against Yazon was still pending, that Yazon had disappeared from contact with STI. We replied asking for more information about Yazon, including contact information for the head of STI.

FEB 24, 2022       Velasquez responds and admits “Yes, admittedly she defrauded both of us.  She used our company to defraud you without us knowing anything about it,” but refuses to divulge any information about Yazon or STI, citing “data privacy” concerns. She also claims STI’s hands are somehow “tied” but as long as Yazon’s academic credentials are being held, “we have a chance.” We dispute the hands being “tied” claim and request STI file a police complaint against Yazon for the fraud STI freely admits Yazon performed.

FEB 28, 2022       Velasquez refuses to file a criminal complaint and claims holding Yazon’s academic records is “enough.” She also states that our company should have exercised better “due diligence” before sending Yazon any money; in response, we point out that our company’s due diligence began and ended on July 22, 2021, when we first contacted STI to verify Yazon’s story and were promised a response within 3 working days that never arrived at all. We repeat our demand that a police complaint be filed to flush Yazon out of hiding; if STI continues to refuse, we request to escalate our concerns to the head of STI and its lawyers. Velasquez declines, so we file a complaint against STI to its h*o.

MAR 2 2022        After being prodded further, Velasquez declares she was “also waiting for instructions from h*o regarding what you are asking from us.” We never hear from her again, but STI Holdings continues to give us the runaround and advises us to contact STI Admissions for help.

MAR 3, 2022       STI Admissions claims they “will coordinate this matter with the concerned unit” without telling us who that unit is. Similarly, we never hear from STI Admissions again either.

APR 25, 2022 to present, 2025          STI, STI Holdings, STI Admissions, and Velasquez are contacted multiple times asking for updates, but no one responds.

JUN 23, JUL 20, AUG 29, OCT 28, DEC 30 2022, and MAR 01 2023                Our company sends six further follow-up messages to STI through the same online messaging system that we first contacted on July 22, 2021. Instead of promising a response within 3 working days as to why all our messages are being ignored, we get an automated response that someone would “get in touch with us shortly.” We never get a response, so now consider STI as aiding and abetting Yazon’s acts of criminal fraud.

JUL 27, 2022       We send Yazon a final demand letter for repayment of 49,851.72PH (892.33 EUR), but she never responds or sends any money. Similarly, STI has gone into hiding for more than 3 years—refusing to answer emails or indicate what action they are taking.

JUL 16, 2024     After years of neglect, our company files an official complaint against STI with DTS number 296120,

JUL 22, 2024   Our company files a second complaint against STI with DTS number 296989.

SEPT 17, 2024   STI hold a hearing without giving us a link to participate and claims that their Compliance Officer Cyril Cunanan is "unknown to them," while making other demonstrably false statements during the hearing, which basically accomplishes nothing other than for STI to aid and abet the fraud involved and wash their hands of the documented crime.