SC junks appeal of former DPWH exec, cohort in ₧6.37-million motorpool scam

THE Supreme Court has dismissed the petitions filed by a former official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) who was convicted by the Sandiganbayan in connection with the anomalous transactions involving the fictitious repair of government vehicles.

In a decision dated January 12 and made public online on Tuesday, the court’s first division denied for lack of merit the petitions for review filed by Maximo Borje and Conchita dela Cruz.

The charges involve 274 bogus transactions on supposedly emergency repairs on 39 DPWH vehicles in 2001, when Borje was the chief of the motorpool section of the DPWH Board of Equipment (DPWH-BOE), and dela Cruz was a government supplier and the owner of DEB Repair Shop and Parts.

The Sandiganbayan had found Borje and dela Cruz liable for fictitious transactions from March to December 2001.

The two allegedly forged and falsified documents to cause the payment of fictitious repairs and purchases of spare parts amounting to P6.37 million.

The high tribunal affirmed the decision of the Sandiganbayan, dated November 10, 2016. The petitioners were sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. They were also ordered to pay the DPWH P5,166,539 in civil indemnity.

“We find no reason to disturb the findings of the Sandiganbayan that petitioners are in conspiracy with the other co-accused. This Court is not a trier of facts and in the absence of strong and compelling reasons, we accord finality to the factual findings of the Sandiganbayan,” the SC said.