Woman indicted of qualified theft

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has indicted a senior customer service representative of a cell phone repair shop for stealing 29 high-end phones amounting to almost P500,000.

Caroline Calumba, single, of Felina Village, F. Llamas St., Katipunan, Cebu City, was charged in court for 29 counts of qualified theft wherein a total of P1,034,000 bail was recommended for her temporary liberty in 28 counts.

No bail was recommended for the other count of qualified theft because the amount involved already exceeded to the limit wherein bail is allowed.

Assistant city prosecutor Maria Theresa Calibugan-Casiño found probable cause to indict Calumba of the crime charged after she failed to submit her counter-affidavit.

The resolution reads that Calumba had an employer-employee relationship with Aikontech Corporation but the accused abused the high degree of confidence she enjoyed from the complainant.

Maria Victoria Venus Jiraban, the center head of Aikontech Corporation, said the accused was assigned in their Cebu Branch since July 1, 2007 until July 9, 2008 when the latter went on Awol.

Jiraban said that Calumba is in-charge of coordinating with the accounts of network providers which include receipt of cellular phone units for repair from the provider through courier and walk-in delivery, endorsement of units to the technicians for repair, collection of repaired units from the technicians and sending the said units back to the provider through UPWORLD Courier Services, which is the official courier service of their company in partnership with the network providers, Smart Telecommunications Inc., Globe Telecom and Sun Cellular.

On July 8, 2008, Jiraban said that she received notice of a complaint from its head office in Manila regarding concerns of some clients on missing and unreturned units.

The company conducted an actual inventory and found out that 29 units of cellular phones amounting to P494,991 have been missing.

Jiraban added that as a result, their company was compelled to replace all the missing units which were under the custody of Calumba. (FREEMAN)