Sandiganbayan upholds conviction of ex-BSP examiner

THE anti-graft court has upheld the criminal conviction of a former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) examiner who took an illegal side job with a bank he once supervised, sentencing him to at least six years behind bars for corruption.

In a 59-page decision promulgated on Thursday, the Sandiganbayan special sixth division denied the appeal of Braulio Adolfo Cloribel, Jr., a former bank officer I of the BSP, and maintained the guilty verdict for his receipt of illicit fees from the Rural Bank of Sapang Dalaga (RBSD) through a third-party entity known as the Prudential Consulting Firm.

“Nonetheless, this Court determines that there is more than sufficient circumstantial evidence proving that indeed Cloribel cunningly orchestrated a scheme to deceive the RBSD into acceding to his whims by false pretenses of helping the bank and by abusing his position as the BSP’s representative bank examiner by employing threats of BSP sanctions if his shots and calls will not be followed,” the anti-graft court said in its decision penned by Associate Justice Sarah Jane T. Fernandez, affirming in to the lower court’s verdict.

The court said that the accused collected monthly fees of P5,000 totaling P103,500 after he audited the bank in late 2005, and it said that central bank employees are explicitly barred from such consultancy roles.

According to the decision, Mr. Cloribel is sentenced to six years and one month to seven years in prison and faces perpetual disqualification from public office.

The court added that he must pay actual damages to the lender through the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking