THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed the arrest of an employee of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) accused of involvement in a ‘payroll-padding’ scam in the government sports agency.
The NBI identified the employee as Paul Michael Padua Ignacio, who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly falsifying the payroll register of national athletes and coaches and funneling allowances to his own bank account.
Ignacio was presented for inquest proceedings on Wednesday 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 Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Based on the initial investigation of the PSC, Ignacio, who was tasked with preparing the payroll ofthe allowances of athletes and coaches in the Personnel Department, included unqualified persons on the register.
The NBI said that based on the PSC investigation, Ignacio embezzled P14,448.254.35 between August 2015 until May 2020.
After the arrest on Tuesday, the NBI said it discovered that, In the month of June alone, Ignacio included three unqualified coaches and three unqualified athletes to the payroll and credited P450,150 to his bank account.
The NBI also seized Ignacio’s laptop and desktop unit issued by the PSC for forensic examination.
The PSC asked assistance from the NBI after the Land Bank sent a letter to chairman William Ramirez and executive director Merly Ibay regarding 'unusual payroll transactions' on the account of Ignacio.
“We are thankful for the speedy action of the NBI. We are just waiting for the result of their inquest. Ever since dumating kami sa PSC, ‘yun ang kabilin-bilinan ni President Duterte na linisin ang PSC,” said PSC commissioner and OIC Ramon Fernandez.
“I was sad, I was mad, and I was happy that finally, we discovered things like this especially sa ginagawa niya, ‘yung mga atleta ang nababawasan ng pera,” the PSC OIC added.
Fernandez declined to speculate on whether the suspect had an accomplice.
“We really have to wait for the findings of the NBI. The initial thinking is nahirapan siyang gumawa niyan. I don’t want to speculate on how he did it. Our suspect is very cooperative. Inamin naman niya so I hope he tells the whole story,” said Fernandez.
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