THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested an employee of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) for allegedly funneling over P14 million to his account from the payroll of athletes and coaches.
Paul Michael Padua Ignacio, who is under the PSC Personnel Office, was arrested in his office on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, according to NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor.
Distor said they conducted an investigation against Ignacio after PSC officer-in-charge Merlita Ibay sought their assistance.
Ibay said they received a letter from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) about unusual payroll transactions credited to Ignacio’s account from August 2015 to May 2020.
Ignacio is tasked to prepare the payroll for the monthly allowance of qualified coaches and athletes and forward this to the Landbank.
Ignacio, however, was found to have included in the payroll the names of unqualified coaches and athletes. He allegedly put his own payroll account number as the account number of these coaches and athletes.
For the month of June 2020, Distor said Ignacio listed three unqualified coaches and three unqualified athletes who were credited with a total amount of P450,150 which went to the suspect’s account.
Distor said Ignacio has embezzled around P14.45 million.
The NBI seized the laptop and desktop unit of Ignacio issued by the PSC for forensic examination.
Ignacio will be presented for inquest proceedings for violation of Article 310 in relation to Article 309 (Qualified Theft) through violation of Article 172 in relation to Article 171 (Falsification of Public Documents), all under the RPC, and for violation of R.A. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012). (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo/SunStar Philippines)