Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Dismissed CH worker tagged in falsification faces 94 more cases
THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 is set to file 94 separate falsification of government documents charges against a dismissed City Hall employee alleged to be behind the proliferation of fake tax declarations in Cebu City.
This after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), in a certification addressed to NBI regional chief Medardo de Lemos, confirmed that the documents his operatives recovered from the home of Sandre Po in a raid last May were all fake.
The documents included tax clearance certificates, tax declarations and official receipts.
Charges
Po, 45, is already facing anti-graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas and a separate estafa case before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) following his arrest last May.
He faces a separate complaint for 15 counts of falsification of public documents following the raid on his home.
Even before the administrative component of his anti-graft charge is resolved, Mayor Tomas Osmeña already ordered him fired from City Hall.
Po was arrested last May 31 in an entrapment carried out near his home.
Documents
Prior to the arrest, the agents also applied for and were granted a warrant to search Po’s house in J. Alcantara St. They enforced it when Po was already in custody.
Recovered during the raid were numerous government documents and application forms from the BIR and the Registry of Deeds.
Based on the investigation the NBI did prior to the entrapment, Po was allegedly in the business of printing fake government documents like tax declarations, official receipts of transfer tax payment and real property tax clearances.
He sold them for about P1,000 each to those who needed them for various City Hall transactions.
Po has denied the charges in his counter-affidavit and, through his counsel, has questioned the validity of the search on his home. (KNR)
