Philpost mail sorter nabbed for theft

The Philippine Post Office (Philpost) believes it has solved the P700,000 theft of Government Security Insurance System (GSIS) checks with the recent arrest of a mail sorter who suddenly went on absence without official leave following the incident last Sept. 18.

Manuel Dolz, 31, was arrested by Philpost investigation division operatives while reportedly talking to a suspected fixer in the vicinity of the Philpost building in Ermita, Manila, last week to whom he allegedly planned to sell the checks. Dolz was immediately turned over to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Special Action Unit (SAU) by Philpost for the filing of proper charges.

NBI-SAU agent Cocoy Zuñiga said, however, that only one of the estimated 100 GSIS checks was recovered in the possession of Dolz. The seized money order was worth P1,000.

Dolz, in an interview with The STAR, confessed to have stolen the check found in his possession but denied responsibility for the theft of the rest of the checks.

"I only took that one check that I found in the sack but I don’t know who took the rest," he said in Filipino. Dolz claimed that he became sick afterwards keeping him away from work.

Dolz said he decided to report for work only last Oct. 26 and found out that he had been dismissed due to his unexplained absences. He said it was while he was talking to somebody at the Philpost that operatives "mistook" him for trying to transact with a fixer.

But Zuñiga said Dolz is among five mail sorters who had access to the checks and had all been considered as suspects.

"Of course we don’t have proof about the four others but when he (Dolz) approached one of the fixers that gave the Philpost operatives probable cause to arrest and search him," said the NBI agent. Investigators believe Dolz is hiding the other missing checks. NBI and Philpost operatives are continuing investigation of the theft. – Jose Aravilla