Sandiganbayan (File photo)
MANILA – The Sandiganbayan has convicted the former general manager of a municipal water district in Lanao del Sur of graft and malversation involving nearly PHP11 million in public funds siphoned through a fictitious project in 2011.
The anti-graft court sentenced Jamaloden Faisal of the Tugaya Water District to reclusion perpetua after finding him guilty of malversation.
Faisal was likewise sentenced to an additional 10 years for the separate charge of graft, according to a decision promulgated June 23 and released Monday.
His co-accused, private individual Alikahn Ebrahim, remains at large.
Out of the original PHP25 million budget for the project, the court said Faisal and Ebrahim embezzled PHP10.074 million.
The supposed contractor, Nascon Builders, was for documentary purposes only to make it appear that the project was implemented.
Nascon denied it had knowledge of Ebrahim’s deal with Faisal.
The National Bureau of Investigation conducted a fact-finding investigation by ocular inspection in 2014 concerning the project to supposedly build 10 reservoirs in Mt. Gurain, located in the municipality of Balindong.
The inspection found that the reservoirs were non-existent and no public bidding was held.
“A Joint Affidavit of Inspection was submitted by the team of investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation stating that the reservoirs funded by LWUA (Local Water Utilities Administration) are inexistent, based on the Development Map and Detailed Cost Estimate of the Project,” read a 2017 resolution by the Office of the Ombudsman, which also conducted a probe through its Field Investigation Unit.
“The fact that the water supply improvement project is non-existent is sufficient proof to engender a well-founded belief that public funds were misappropriated for respondent Faisal’s own private use or benefit.” (PNA)
