NEA files P138 million syndicated estafa vs 7 ex-power coop execs
The National Electrification Administration (NEA) filed criminal complaints on Tuesday against seven former officials of two electric cooperatives (ECs) for the alleged embezzlement of their cooperatives’ retirement funds.
MANILA, Philippines — The National Electrification Administration (NEA) filed criminal complaints on Tuesday against seven former officials of two electric cooperatives (ECs) for the alleged embezzlement of their groups’ retirement funds.
According to NEA Administrator Antonio Almeda, the complaints filed before the Department of Justice were lodged against erring officials of First Bukidnon Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FIBECO) and the Ilocos Norte Electric Cooperative (INEC).
Almeda said six former general managers and department managers were identified in their complaint against INEC.
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“A case of syndicated estafa was filed today in the amount of P118 million that involves the embezzlement of the retirement funds of the employees of [INEC],” Almeda said in a press conference.
“With regard to the case filed by the [FIBECO], this involves the former general manager charged with qualified theft in his efforts to embezzle the funds of the [EC] for personal use [amounting to P20 million],” he added.
Almeda explained that the complaints arose from an embezzlement case discovered by the NEA in Central Luzon, where an employee allegedly misappropriated P150 million from a certain EC’s retirement fund.
“It prompted the NEA to sound off all the electric cooperatives to check on the retirement funds of their electric cooperatives … it turned out that [INEC] does have an anomaly like that, and from there, we were able to build a case and now it’s now a criminal complaint,” said Almeda.
Meanwhile, INEC’s case came to light after 97 employees retired en masse in June 2023.
This mass retirement revealed that INEC lacked sufficient funds to pay all 97 employees’ retirement benefits, prompting the NEA to audit INEC’s retirement funds.
The audit revealed that the retirement committee had released loans to employees that were above their salary and retirement benefits, serving as collateral, all of which were allowed without the necessary approval from the board or the NEA.
NEA also uncovered uncollected loans and excessive bonuses given to members of the retirement committee.
Expect more complaints against erring EC officials
Meanwhile, Almeda said the NEA is still in the process of finalizing complaints against other ECs where similar incidents were discovered.
This includes the EC in Central Luzon, where P150 million was misappropriated, which Almeda himself tagged as the “mother of all retirement fund scams.”
