BOC intel officer suspended for unexplained wealth, firearms

MANILA, Philippines -  The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the suspension of a Bureau of Customs (BOC) intelligence officer who is under investigation for alleged unexplained wealth and for having an armory of high-powered guns.

In a seven-page order dated Feb. 2, the anti-graft agency said there is sufficient basis to place intelligence officer Mitchell Verdeflor under preventive suspension.

The case against Verdeflor stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Revenue Integrity Protection Service of the Department of Finance (DOF-RIPS).

Verdeflor allegedly owns 13 high-powered guns, among them an AK-47, Galil and Tavor rifles, a machine pistol, and Glock, Colt, Remington and Smith and Wesson handguns. 

Two lots and a commercial building in General Santos City are under the name of his wife, Ma. Lani Verdeflor.

The DOF-RIPS said Verdeflor owns three vehicles – a Toyota Altis and a Nissan Patrol under his wife’s name, and a Mitsubishi Pajero registered in the name of Microbase Transport Equipt. Co. Inc.

The DOF-RIPS said Verdeflor failed to declare these assets in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN), considering that their value is “grossly disproportionate to his known and disclosed sources of income.”