Six counts of estafa were filed against Trixie Ivy Cartalla, Christelyn Micaros, Gemma Quimat, Billy Jean Omison, Almero Canamo and Ruwil Lucero, who are all accused of qualified theft and falsifying public documents.
The six accused were working under a private firm that was contracted by the NBI to operate the satellite office in Barangay Ibo.
The NBI, in a statement Monday, June 19, 2023, said the six accused pocketed P300,000 for falsifying the documents of applicants who were no longer qualified to get “First Time Job Seekers” (FTJS) clearance.
The suspects allegedly connived to get P220 each from the FTJS applicants who were actually not first-time jobseekers.
Under the NBI guidelines, first-time jobseekers, or those who have just graduated from college, can get an NBI clearance for free as long as they can submit the requirements, which include a barangay clearance, Oath of Undertaking, photocopy of two valid government identification cards (IDs) and one 2×2 picture.
The suspects’ modus was discovered after NBI 7 Director Rennan Oliva ordered an investigation on May 26. Eight witnesses had submitted their respective affidavits detailing the alleged illegal transaction.
It was revealed that the modus started in January, and the suspects were able to process 1,370 fake FTJS worth P301,400.
The money was also not deposited to the NBI 7 bank account.
The six accused admitted to the crime, saying they got around P800 to P1,000 every day.
They told NBI 7 that they were tempted to do it because they needed money.
The NBI 7 said it will file additional complaints against them once the remaining 1,364 NBI clearance applicants have submitted their respective judicial affidavits. (ANV / LMY)