Whistleblowers in ‘ghost dialysis’ scam may turn state witnesses — DoJ
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2019 08:00:25 +0000
THE whistleblowers in the “ghost dialysis” scam may turn state witness, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said, however, that Edwin Roberto and Liezel Aileen De Leon should first undergo the required vetting process before they could be accepted into the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
“These whistleblowers may of course apply, but the DoJ will evaluate their applications very carefully,” said Guevarra even as he disclosed that counsel for the whistleblowers, lawyer Harry Roque, has reached out to him on the matter.
Section 10 of Republic Act (RA) 6981 or the Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act provides that one may apply to become a state witness if he or she “has participated in the commission of a crime and desires to be a witness for the State.”
If qualified, one may be admitted if he or she “does not appear to be most guilty.” The law stipulates five other requirements before one is admitted to the WPP.
He or she also needs to execute a sworn statement describing in detail the manner in which the offense was committed and his/her participation therein.
If after said examination of said person, his/her sworn statement and other relevant facts, and the DoJ is satisfied that the requirements of the law and its implementing rules are complied with, it may admit such person into the program and issue the corresponding certification.
Roberto and De Leon are former employees of the WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center (WellMed), which is at the heart of an ongoing investigation, following their expose on the clinic’s fraudulent claims for dialysis treatments of dead patients still listed under the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).
The two alleged that they processed the papers on orders of Dr. Bryan Christopher Sy, WellMed vice president, adding that they were also ordered to forge the signatures of the dead patients to justify the clinic’s monetary claim to PhilHealth.
Sy, Roberto and De Leon are now detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) following inquest proceedings on Tuesday before the DoJ for estafa and falsification of public documents based on the complaint filed by the NBI and Philhealth.
NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said that Roberto and De Leon had to be included in the complaint if they were to become state witnesses.
“Because if we are going to use them later on as state witnesses then in the first place they will be criminally charged and later on we will file a motion to exclude them from the charges,” the NBI official said.
Aside from Sy and the whistleblowers, also charged were Sy’s wife, Therese Francseca Tan-Sy, Dr. John Ray Gonzales, Claro Sy, Alvin Sy, Dick Ong, Dr. Porsha Natividad, and Dr. Joemie Soriano.
One of the counsels for Ty, lawyer Rowell Ilagan, has refuted the allegations of the whistleblowers who, he said, resigned WellMed accused them of committing irregularities.
“We sent out to them (Roberto and De Leon) several demand letters requiring them to explain the irregularities that we found out,” Ilagan said.
Sy had claimed that Sebastian and De Leon pocketed the cash payment of patients who have exhausted their 90 dialysis sessions for the whole year, which PhilHealth was paying for.
“To cover up for the company’s money that they have pocketed, they charged the amount to PhilHealth, including those who have already died and unable to finish their dialysis treatments,” Sy said. WILLIAM B. DEPASUPIL
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