NBI lawyer, brother charged for extortion

The arrest should serve as a lesson to corrupt officials not only in the NBI and BI, which are both under the DoJ, but in other government agencies as well

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed graft and other criminal charges against the agency’s own lawyer and his brother for allegedly extorting money from suspects involved in the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) scheme.

Several BI officers are being probed over their involvement in allowing foreigners without proper documents to slip past immigration lines for a fee.

These fees were usually wrapped in white paper resembling a sweet Filipino delicacy that gave the scheme its name.

Charged were NBI Legal Assistance Section (LAS) lawyer Joshua Paul Capiral and his brother, Christopher John Chua who is an employee of the BI’s Medical Section.

They were charged with robbery (extortion); violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt

Practices Act; violation of Executive Order 608, s. 2007 Establishing A National Security Clearance System for Government Personnel with Access to Classified Matters and For Other Purpose; and violation of Republic Act 6713, otherwise known as Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees before the Department of Justice.

Senator Franklin Drilon also recommended the disbarment of Capiral.

“He is a disgrace to the legal profession,” he said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the arrest should serve as a lesson to corrupt officials not only in the NBI and BI, which are both under the DoJ, but in other government agencies as well.

He is a disgrace to the legal profession.

“The apprehension of a ranking official of the NBI is a stern warning to all that corrupt and other criminal activities will not be tolerated, especially in agencies which are supposed to be the pillars in the administration of criminal justice,” Guevarra said.

BI personnel Jeffrey Dale Salameda Ignacio, who is being linked in the pastillas scheme, and the NBI-Special

Action Unit (SAU), represented by Special Investigator Joel Otic, are the complainants against the brothers.

Salameda was among the 19 BI personnel who were earlier charged by the NBI before the Ombudsman for involvement in the illegal practice.

The brothers waived their rights to a preliminary investigation during inquest proceedings. The justice department is expected to come up with a resolution immediately.

The two were arrested by the NBI agents on Monday during an entrapment operation.

They were caught receiving marked money from Ignacio amounting to P200,000.