NBI arrests PSC employee for P14 million fraud

A Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) employee got arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday, July 14, for falsifying the payroll register of national team athletes and coaches – crediting their allowances into his own bank account.

The suspect, Paul Michael Padua Ignacio, embezzled at least P14 million from August 2015 to May 2020 based on initial verification.

NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor said the PSC sought assistance for investigation after the Land Bank of the Philippines notified the sports body regarding the unusual payroll transactions credited to the account of Ignacio.

An employee under the PSC Personnel Office, Ignacio was tasked to prepare the payroll for monthly allowance of qualified athletes and coaches and forward their names to Land Bank.

Investigation, however, revealed Ignacio included unqualified athletes and coaches and put his own payroll account under their names.

Also discovered that in June, Ignacio included 3 unqualified coaches and 3 athletes in the payroll for a total amount of Php 450,150 to be credited into his own account.

With sufficient evidence on hand, the NBI Special Action Unit arrested Ignacio in his office on Tuesday and seized his laptop and desktop unit issued by the PSC for forensic examination.

Ignacio will be presented for inquest proceedings for qualified theft, falsification of public documents, and cybercrime. – Rappler.com