TWO Malabon City employees were sentenced to a total of 61 years imprisonment by the Sandiganbayan after being found guilty of defrauding the city government by falsifying 12 payroll entries in January, February, September, November, and December 2013.
In a 91-page decision promulgated December 10, 2021, the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division convicted city administrative officer Rosa Vila de Jesus and bookbinder Magdalena Sebulino of six counts of graft and six counts of estafa through falsification.
They were meted four years and two months to 10 years for each count of estafa and six to 10 years for each count of graft, with perpetual disqualification from holding public office.
Each was also fined P5,000 per graft charge or a total of P30,000 aside from being ordered to pay the city of Malabon P1.14 million in civil liability.
A third accused, administrative aide Rosalie Bernardo, remains at large although she has a standing warrant for her arrest.
On the other hand, human resources and management development officer Edgardo Casimero was acquitted by the court of all charges due to lack of evidence to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Associate Justice and Sixth Division chairperson Sarah Jane T. Fernandez penned the ruling, with Associate Justices Karl B. Miranda and Kevin Narce B. Vivero concurring.
Prosecutors filed the cases in 2016, alleging the salaries of De Jesus and Bernardo were padded by sums ranging from P60,000 to P180,000 through several pay days in 2013.
Corruption investigators from the Office of the Ombudsman said they found tampered Financial Data Entry System (FinDES) during the months relevant to the cases showing that a paycheck for P420.54 was falsified to reflect P60,420; P1,904.07 became P91,904.07; and P1,002.16 became P181,002.16, among others.
The coinciding payroll periods and the same set of two names whose accounts received the extra amounts were enough to convince the court of conspiracy between the convicted defendants.
“The respective acts and omissions of accused Sebulino and de Jesus were coordinated and cooperative,” the Sandiganbayan said.
For each of the questioned payroll periods, the court identified Sebulino as the one who altered the data in the FinDES, and these outputs found their way to the Accounting Department where De Jesus was assigned.
