3 ex-cops convicted of graft

The Sandiganbayan convicted three retired police officials of graft and sentenced them to six to 10 years in jail yesterday afternoon.

The anti-graft court also ordered retired police colonels Van Luspo and Arturo Montano, and retired chief inspector Salvador Duran Sr. to pay the government some P10 million in reimbursements in relation to the ghost purchase and delivery of Combat Clothing and Individual Equipment (CCIE) to the Philippine National Police (PNP) in 1992.

Margarita Tugaoen, a private contractor, was meted the same punishment for her involvement in the irregular transactions through the issuance of checks to pay for items that were never delivered.

Assistant Special Prosecutor John Turalba handled the case. The Sandiganbayan’s 5th Division issued a 61-page decision penned by Justice Roland Jurado and affirmed by Justices Maria Cristina Cortez-Estrada and Napoleon Inoturan.

Retired PNP comptroller Guillermo Domondon was acquitted along with former PNP chief Cesar Nazareno, who passed away before the trial came to a close. – Michael Punongbayan