CEBU, Philippines - A former government auditor was indicted for malversation of government funds after she allegedly falsified a reimbursement form to collect for herself P19,836 in public funds.
The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas has found probable cause to hold Vivien Ortiz for trial. Graft investigator Vicent Albeos, however, dismissed the administrative complaint against her because she was no longer in government service.
Ortiz was terminated from the government service after she was also found guilty of dishonesty in 2011.
The anti-graft office said Ortiz was no longer a public servant when the complaint was filed against her. Nevertheless, Albeos said her criminal liability exists and that proper criminal case should be filed against her in court.
Albeos found out that Ortiz took advantage of her position “in order to achieve the covert criminal objective of her acts to siphon public funds from government coffers in the guise of reimbursement to herself.”
Ortiz allegedly falsified the supporting documents to get a supposed reimbursement. Among the supporting documents that were falsified were the travel order and the authorization for her supposed attendance to a conference.
Ortiz denied the charges and claimed that the funds were not missing but unused. —/FPL (FREEMAN)