A sample of an NBI clearance | Photo from NBI Website
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Six processors assigned at a satellite office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in a mall in Lapu-Lapu City, Mactan were accused of defrauding the agency through its ‘first-time job seeker’ policy.
The NBI in Central Visayas (NBI-7) filed six counts of Estafa through Falsification of Public Document and Qualified Theft against six individuals hired to man its satellite office in a mall in Brgy. Ibo, Lapu-Lapu City.
The respondents were identified as Trixie Ivy Cartalla, Christelyn Micaros, Gemma Quimat, Billy Jean Omison, Almero Canamo, and Ruwil Lucero. All work under a private firm contracted to operate NBI’s offsite center there.
The suspects have been accused of defrauding the NBI of at least P300,000 by falsifying records of individuals ineligible for the Clearance of First Time Job Seekers (FTJS).
According to findings from NBI-7, the six accused allegedly connived to ask for P220 as payment for several applicants and then file them as FTJS clearances.
The FTJS basically allowed first-time job seekers to ask for an NBI clearance, a pre-employment requisite, free of charge. The NBI asks for P220 as payment for processing clearances.
Ongoing since January
NBI-7, in a press release, said they received information from their Information and Communication Technology Service that they detected signs of possible fraud in their satellite office in Brgy. Ibo, Lapu-Lapu City last May 26.
Lawyer Rennan Augustus Oliva, director of NBI-7, then deployed a team to investigate the matter.
Agents managed to secure affidavits from eight witnesses who processed their NBI clearances there. These witnesses paid P220 to the suspects but the latter still labeled them as FTJS clearances even if they were ineligible, NBI-7 explained.
They also found out that the fraudulent activity had been going on since January 2023.
A total of falsified 1,370 FTJS, costing P301,400, were made by the suspects, authorities said. The money they got from the applicants was not also deposited to NBI’s official bank account.
The agency on June 14 summoned all six suspects, through a subpoena, to explain the matter.
They all admitted that they took advantage of the FTJS clearances, added NBI-7, saying that their daily income, between P800 to P1,000, was insufficient for their needs.
“We will still be filing another set of complaints against the same persons charged as soon as we can take Judicial Affidavits of the remaining 1,364 NBI Clearance Applicants,” NBI-7 added.
/bmjo
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