Customs employees allegedly pocketing manager’s checks

The Transparency Group (TG) of the Office of the President has uncovered an elaborate scheme involving several officials and employees of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) encashing for their own benefit millions worth of manager’s checks as payment for assessed duties of importers.

The scheme was uncovered after two of three people who have been arrested volunteered to turn state witness and identify the Customs officials and personnel involved in the scam.

For still undetermined reasons, millions of pesos worth of manager’s checks purportedly paid to BOC as duties for various importations found its way into the hands of private individuals who appear to have links with Customs insiders.

With the help of some BOC and bank employees, the assessed duty are reduced making the amount originally paid in the check excessive.

Instead, another check is secured by the conspirators who will then use it to cover the new duty assessment, giving them free disposal of the original check issued by the importer.

The original manager’s check is encashed by the BOC insiders or sold to another person at a rediscounted price. In either case, bank employees are involved in the scam.

The TG said several checks have been seized from the three suspects where two importers positively identified at least two checks as theirs, which they used to pay duties assessed to them by the BOC.

The scam could not be detected by a simple audit since the new duty assessment is not reflected in the records. The checks issued by the importers are returned and marked "encashed," without them knowing that their duties have been reassessed.

Based on the investigation conducted by the TG, the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Department of Finance, one of the suspects initially bragged to a government informant last February that he has in his possession millions worth of manager’s checks for which he is looking for buyers at 20 percent rediscounted price.