Sandiganbayan (File photo)
MANILA – The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has acquitted a government bank auditor on charges of malversation of public funds and graft in connection with anomalous transactions in 1999.
The graft court’s Seventh Division said the prosecution “was not even able to introduce basic evidence” against Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) Lucena’s Maria Prima Abrigo, who appealed the 14-year imprisonment imposed by the Lucena City Regional Trial Court.
The 25-page decision dated October 21, written by Associate Justice Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta, however, found Abrigo civilly liable and directed her to pay the amount of PHP891,000 to DBP-Lucena.
The anti-graft court said the criminal liability “should have been based not on her admissions alone, but on separate and independent proof to establish the crimes”, noting that only Abrigo’s admissions of her part in the irregularities were used.
“To reiterate, an extrajudicial confession will not support a conviction where it is uncorroborated. There must be such corroboration that when considered in connection with the extrajudicial confession, would show the guilt of accused beyond a reasonable doubt,” the Sandiganbayan ruled.
Abrigo’s co-accused, teller Edelyn Tarranco, remains at large.
The two were charged after an investigation that uncovered a scheme utilized by Abrigo and Tarranco, using fictitious deposits made to the checking accounts of a business run by Abrigo’s brother, Diego Jabola, and her spouse, Wilfredo Abrigo.
Jabola and Wilfredo Abrigo were acquitted by the lower court after they claimed innocence in the transactions.
The charges were prompted by a surprise cash count of the bank’s actual cash-in-vault as of April 27, 1999 that showed a shortage of P19.335 million.
It was reported to the Commission on Audit and the DBP head office in Makati City, which conducted parallel investigations.
A portion of the shortage was attributed to the check-shuffling scheme involving Abrigo and Tarranco.
Pressed by investigators, Tarranco said that out of "pakikisama" (getting along), she facilitated the deposit or cash encashment transactions under the name Famous Electrical and Construction Supplies on at least six occasions.
Tarranco admitted that she allowed the encashment and credited fictitious deposits to fund the firm’s inward clearing checks.
An inward clearing check will bounce if deposited unfunded but under the scheme, the account of Famous appeared sufficiently funded, albeit with money from DBP’s cash-in-vault.
Abrigo admitted to her part during a COA probe and executed a sworn statement without counsel.
The Sandiganbayan said there is no question that it is admissible as evidence considering that the confession was made voluntarily, but it does “not automatically spell a conviction” since “much has to be proven by the prosecution but which, haplessly, it failed to do at this instance”.
For one, the court noted none of the checks involved in the case was presented in evidence.
“Ostensibly, there is confusion in the facts laid out by the prosecution which cannot sustain a solid judgment of conviction no matter how easy it became for the accused-appellate to come forward with her wrongdoing,” the court said. (PNA)
