Ombudsman asked to take over WellMed 'ghost' dialysis case

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyer of the two whistleblowers in the “ghost dialysis” scam linked to the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to take over the custody of his clients.

Lawyer Harry Roque, counsel of Edwin Roberto and Liezel De Leon, said he will ask the Ombudsman “to extend witness protection to them since [Witness Protection Program is not] available for [Metropolitan Trial Court] cases.”

Roberto is a former employee of WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center while De Leon is a PhilHealth official.

The two were arrested Thursday night, by virtue of the warrant issued by the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court.

“They lost WPP when the RTC dismissed [the case],” Roque said.

Roberto, De Leon, WellMed owner Bryan Christopher Sy and several others are facing charges of complex crime of estafa through falsification of public and/or official documents.

The Department of Justice initially filed the case before a regional trial court but the case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

Quezon City Regional Trial Court 219 ruled that the case should have been filed before a first level court as those have jurisdiction over a case that imposes a maximum penalty of six years of imprisonment, such as estafa.

READ: RTC: Cases vs WellMed owner, whistleblowers filed at wrong court

The DOJ re-filed it before a metropolitan court, but Roque explained that witness protection only applies for “serious crimes.”

Charges levelled against Roberto and De Leon only carry a maximum penalty of six years and do not constitute grave felony.

Malversation?

Roque insisted that he will ask the Ombudsman to investigate the case for a possible malversation charge.

The charge stemmed from a complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation.

According to the NBI's complaint, Roberto narrated in his sworn affidavit that on March 30, 2016, Sy ordered him "to try to charge a dialysis billing amounting to P2,600 PhilHealth claims of dead individuals."

Roberto also alleged that prior to his resignation in March 2018, "a total amount of P600,000 composing 200 dialysis sessions were settled by PhilHealth to WellMed Dialysis & Laboratory Center Corporation."

PhilHealth officials, including president and chief executive officer Roy Ferrer, have resigned over the controversy.

The NBI has also named 21 PhilHealth officials as respondents in a separate criminal complaint, but the DOJ has yet to resolve that.