Graft raps filed vs ex-DOJ chief Devanadera, others

(Updated 4:37 p.m.) The Office of the Ombudsman has filed eight criminal charges against former Justice secretary Agnes Devanadera in connection with the alleged illegal grant of allowances to herself and her staff in 2007 when she was serving as government corporate counsel. The charges — four counts each of graft and malversation — were filed with the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Wednesday. Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro approved the indictment last May 24 based on informations prepared by Prosecutor Camilo S. Correa. Named co-respondents were assistant government corporate counsel Jose Marie Capili and former accountant Divina Gracia Cruz, while former head executive assistant Rolando Faller was slapped with two counts each of graft and malversation. The prosecution recommended P280,000 total bail bonds for Devanadera, Capili and Cruz and P140,000 for Faller. Denial Contacted by GMA News Online, Devanadera denied having pocketed money from the office, saying all funds during her time were properly accounted for by the Commission on Audit (COA). "Walang nawala. Wala akong kinuha kahit isa," Devanadera said in a phone interview with GMA News Online. The former Justice chief likewise said that she will file a motion for reconsideration to counter the Ombudsman’s charges. "I am very confident that I will be cleared," she said. Conspiracy? Government auditors said the defendants conspired in February 2007 to allow Devanadera to receive P100,000 and Faller P30,000 out of the special assessment fee put up by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). The Ombudsman said the sums were released supposedly “for the purchase of reading materials to aid them in the discharge of their functions," but neither Devanadera nor Faller made any purchase. Records obtained by investigators showed Devanadera deposited the Land Bank check to her personal account numbered 244-536369-6 on Feb. 13, 2007, while Faller reportedly encashed his check on the same date. In addition, the defendants were also questioned for allowing Devanadera to draw P500,000 and Faller P200,000 as attorney’s fees out of the special assessment fees from GSIS on Jan. 23, 2007. The amounts were reportedly paid out in connection with the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel’s (OGCC) representation in the GSIS real estate foreclosure project. Devanadera’s check for P450,000 (after P50,000 withholding task) was traced to have also gone into her personal bank account, while Faller converted his into cash for P180,000 (after P20,000 withholding tax). The Ombudsman held that neither of the two was entitled to such payment because it runs contrary to the provisions of Section 10, Chapter 3, Title IV, Book IV of the Administrative Code of 1987 and the 2004 OGCC Office Order no. 0006. Named principal witnesses for the prosecution were OGCC Ariel Ubiña, graft investigators Eugenio Ferrer and Corinne Joie Garillo, and government auditors Rosalinda Albania, Lourdes B. Lim and Sylvia S. Sagge. — with Andreo Calonzo/KBK/RSJ, GMA News