FORMER Quezon City councilor Dante de Guzman has been convicted of 32 criminal charges by the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division in connection with the alleged ghost hiring of job order personnel whose paychecks were collected by his trusted staff in 2009 and 2010.
In a 67-page decision penned by Associate Justice Maryaan E. Corpus-Mañalac, the anti-graft court found the accused guilty of 16 counts of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, each with a penalty of 6 to 8 years imprisonment.
Likewise, he was convicted on 16 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents, for which he was meted 6 to 10 years imprisonment for each count.
The Sandiganbayan’s ruling may be appealed before the Supreme Court.
Based on trial records, De Guzman’s office hired several individuals as field coordinators, area coordinators, or office aides, but only a few actually rendered service not as office staff as their contracts stated but as street sweepers who only worked twice a week.
Prosecutors said the rest were ghost employees whose names only appeared on paper but were paid by the local government anyway.
Four of the street sweepers, testifying for the prosecution, divulged that they were only paid P600 every two weeks, even if they were supposed to be receiving P5,000 a month.
They also did not receive bonuses of P2,250 each, incentive bonuses of P2,500 each, and Pamaskong Handog 2009 worth P6,000 each, although these extra compensation in cash were collected by a staff member of the city councilor.
“The funds, which were disbursed in cash, could not have been collected by his staff member on behalf of de Guzman’s office, during each payroll period without de Guzman’s signature on the payroll,” the court pointed out.
The court said the accused employed a payroll scheme “to facilitate the diversion of public funds under the guise of legitimate positions.”
“Put plainly, the glaring truth is that more funds were disbursed from the city coffers than were actually paid to the named payees. Accordingly, the facts and circumstances led to no other conclusion than that De Guzman deliberately consented to or permitted the taking of public funds,” the Sandiganbayan said.
