Netizen sued over BPI deposit ‘joke’

MANILA, Philippines - A man who claimed that P12 billion and P8 million were deposited into his bank account last month, allegedly during a system glitch of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), could face up to 12 years in prison.

BPI filed charges of falsification by private individuals, use of falsified documents and libel in relation to the Cybercrime Prevention Act against Facebook user Daniel Angelo Nobleza Salasalan before the Manila City prosecutor’s office last Wednesday.

NBI cybercrime division chief Manny Eduarte said the penalty for falsification is a maximum of six years and for online libel, a maximum of 12 years. 

He said Salasalan’s claims damaged BPI’s reputation.

An initial probe by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) revealed that the screenshots Salasalan posted on his Facebook account to prove his claims were spliced.

Aside from the cropped photos of the digits, the amount also bore peso signs, which would not appear on verifications and even balance inquiries.

Salasalan himself wrote to BPI, apologizing for his claims. He admitted that he “cropped” the digits as part of a joke, but later realized that he should not have posted the screenshots.