Thursday, January 15, 2009 Ombud asks court to forefeit properties of BIR official
THE Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has asked the court to forfeit the alleged ill-gotten wealth of a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) 7 official the anti-graft office earlier dismissed from service.
On Tuesday, Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago testified that Nieto Racho, former chief of the BIR 7 investigative section, could not properly account for the assets during a formal probe.
Judge Geraldine Faith Econg of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) branch 9 is hearing the case and set the next hearing next month.
Santiago was not cross-examined because Racho’s attorney, Ramsey Quijano, failed to show up during the hearing.
Central to the case anti-graft prosecutor Sam Malazarte is presenting in court is Racho’s P5 million in bank deposits.
In May 2003, then Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Primo Miro ordered Racho’s dismissal from government service for being unable to explain why he has P5.8 million in three Cebu-based banks. He did not declare it in his statements of assets
and liabilities (SALs).
Ombudsman Director Virginia Santiago recommended the penalty after finding the official guilty of dishonesty and falsification.
He was also charged with violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Based on case records at the anti-graft office, the investigation against the tax official came after a news organization submitted certifications of Racho’s 1999 bank deposits at the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (P2,932,896.27), Bank of the Philippine Islands (P1,632,282.50) and Equitable PCI Bank (P1,228,702.53).
Examination of the official’s SALs from 1995 to 2000 showed that Racho only declared P1 million as his cash in the bank.
In his counter-affidavit, Racho did not deny the existence of the accounts but questioned the anti-graft office’s authority to conduct the investigation.
Santiago, in recommending his dismissal and indictment, said numerous Supreme Court rulings reinforce the anti-graft office’s authority to do the probe.
The fact that the figures Racho declared in his SALs and the figures in the bank certificate do not match “already constitutes substantial evidence” to administratively convict Racho, she said.
The SAL is an annual requirement of the Office of the Ombudsman. It is meant to promote transparency as it reveals a public official’s sources of income, business interests and loans, if any.
Government officials may face investigation for unexplained wealth under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
In the course of the investigation, anti-graft probers were able to secure original bank certifications dated June 17, 1999 issued by the Bank of the Philippine Islands and Equitable PCI Bank which revealed he had accounts for P1,632,282.59 and P1,228,702.53, respectively. (KNR)
