DAVAO CITY (April 9) — The Police Regional Office (PRO)-12 is set to file criminal and administrative charges against police officials and personnel who have been tagged as behind the nearly PHP2-billion investment scam here.
Lt. Col. Aldrin Gonzales, PRO-12 public information officer, said Monday the Regional Investigation and Detection Management (RIDM-12) division is already processing the cases against at least 16 policemen.
Gonzales said a number of alleged victims have already surfaced and executed affidavits regarding the involvement of the suspects in the illegal investment scheme, which was dubbed Pulis Paluwagan Movement (PPM).
The victims were all police commissioned and non-commissioned officers assigned at the city police office and the PRO-12, he said.
“The gathering of affidavits from the alleged victims is ongoing and we expect the filing of the initial cases anytime within the next few days,” he said in a radio interview.
For the criminal charges, Gonzales said the accused may face possible syndicated estafa and other related cases.
Three ranking police officials and 13 of their subordinates were relieved last month in connection with the scam, including Col. Manuel Lukban Jr., former chief of PRO-12 directorial staff; Col. Raul Supiter, former city police director; and Lt. Col. Henry Binas of PRO-12.
Lukban and Supiter were transferred to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) in Camp Crame while Binas and the 13 members of the city police were placed under the Regional PHAU.
PPM, which started last year, allegedly had the approval of the involved police officials and even operated for some time at the city police headquarters in Camp Fermin Lira before it started to collapse in January this year.
Most of its recruits were policemen who were lured into investing their money for interests of up to 120 percent a month.
Gonzales said all accused police personnel have acquired the services of private counsels for their defense. He added that only 13 are currently reporting for duty at the RPHAU after one of them has gone missing since March 27.
Patrolman Kristine Joy Rojas was reportedly last seen leaving the regional headquarters in Barangay Tambler that day.
“She is still considered missing until today. Our investigators are determining whether she just went into hiding or there were other circumstances involved with her disappearance,” Gonzales added. -PNA
