Ex-NBI medico-legal chief charged with extortion
By Allison Lopez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:09:00 06/20/2008
Filed Under: Crime, Graft & Corruption
MANILA, Philippines -- A former medico-legal chief of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was charged before the Manila Regional Trial Court of allegedly extorting P200,000 from a doctor in exchange for a favorable autopsy report on her dead patient.
The Office of the Ombudsman ordered the indictment of Maximo Laro Reyes for direct bribery and violation of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, based on the complaint of Dr. Lennette Chan.
Chan, who was accused of medical malpractice, claimed Reyes and his co-accused, Anthony Bernal Castro, NBI Dagupan medico-legal officer, demanded P200,000 from her so they would release positive autopsy findings on the corpse of her patient, Alma Victoria.
Chan performed a caesarian section operation on Victoria in March 2003 but the patient died several days later.
Victoria's husband decided to file a case of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide/malpractice against Chan before the NBI office in Dagupan and an autopsy was conducted.
In May, the respondents met with Chan and showed her a detrimental autopsy report saying Victoria died of "post-surgical anemia." It was then that they asked P200,000 from her and gave her a three-week deadline of three weeks.
But Chan instead sought the help of the NBI, which set up an entrapment operation.
On June 12, Chan met with the medico-legal chief at NBI headquarters in Manila where she was shown a final autopsy report with "myocardial infarction pulmonary embolism sepsis contributory" as Victoria's cause of death.
Reyes was arrested after accepting the marked money from Chan, while Castro, who was also inside the medico-legal division, was brought in for questioning.
Castro denied the allegations and said it was Chan who tried to bribe him. Reyes, meanwhile, claimed Chan "dumped" the envelope containing cash on his table and that he refused to accept it.
The Ombudsman, however, found the four elements of direct bribery present and said there was sufficient evidence to charge Castro and Reyes for violating the Anti-Graft Law.
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