Sunday, September 30, 2007 Answer raps, Tejero official told
THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has directed the barangay secretary of Tejero, Cebu City to answer charges that he pocketed public funds by encashing a government check through forgery and then making it appear the disbursement was official.
If no answer is submitted, the anti-graft office order signed by Ombudsman Director Edgardo Canton said, the investigation against Christopher Abad will proceed solely on the evidence attached to the complaint prepared by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7.
Abad stands charged with falsification of public documents, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and misconduct.
The charge, in turn, stemmed from a complaint lodged before the NBI by Tejero Barangay Councilor Jessielou Cadungog, the original payee of the government check.
The check was good for P11,280. But if convicted, Abad stands to serve jail time, lose his job and be permanently disqualified from holding any government office.
According to his affidavit, the check was to pay for a government seminar Cadungog was supposed to attend in Dakak, a beach resort in Dipolog City.
Cadungog didn’t go to the seminar, however, because of a prior engagement.
So instead of encashing the check, he allegedly had Abad return it to the barangay treasurer so it could be cancelled and so that the money allocated could be returned to the general fund.
But Abad allegedly did not return the check. Instead, according to Cadungog’s affidavit, he forged the latter’s signature, endorsed the check to a certain Bert Colong who, in turn, deposited it into his bank account, waited for the clearing period to lapse and then withdrew the amount.
Abad then got the cashed check and attached it to the original disbursement records, giving the impression that Cadungog got the check and cashed it for his seminar.
The incident was uncovered when Cadungog wanted to see the void check but was instead only shown a voucher.
When the check was finally located, it had already been endorsed and cashed.
The NBI had the check inspected by a document examiner and the signature purported to be Cadungog’s was established to be a forgery. (KNR)
