MANILA, Philippines -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) presented to the media on

Friday a woman who was allegedly engaged in a million-dollar investment scam.

Nimfa Montes Beredo, alias Patricia Beredo, 45, a native of Lumban Laguna, allegedly duped
several people -- Filipinos and foreigners alike -- by enticing them to invest in the travel and
ticketing business.

The suspect's modus was clearly a Ponzi or "pyramid" scheme, a fraudulent investment operation
that involved paying abnormally high, short-term returns to investors out of the money raised
from new investors, rather than from profits generated by any real business, said Marianito
Panganiban, chief of the NBI Anti-Organized Crime Division.

NBI records showed that the suspect was being sought by authorities for her conviction in an
estafa (fraud) case tried in the sala of Pasig City regional trial court Judge Alicia Marin-Co. She
was sentenced to 17 to 20 years imprisonment.

Investigation further showed that while the trial was going on in 1995, the suspect jumped bail
and fled to the United States where she allegedly continued her illegal activities.

Her fraudulent scheme, however, led to the filing of multiple complaints against her, which
eventually led to her deportation to the Philippines.

Rose Baladjay is known as the “Queen of Pyramiding” in the Philippines after her Multitel company
scammed more than P100 billion ($2.5 billion at the current exchange rate) from around 2 million
investors. She enticed investors with guaranteed returns of 4-5% per month or, as an alternative, a
double-your-money offer or 100% return after 18 months.