Ombudsman sacks graft prober for extortion attempt

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales is cracking the whip on her own employees.

The Office of the Ombudsman on Thursday fired a graft investigator for allegedly trying to extort P.5 million from a customs officer facing a corruption investigation.

Morales approved last Monday a joint resolution by the Internal Affairs Board (IAB) dismissing Wilger R. Urmaza from the service after finding substantial evidence that the latter had attempted to extort money from lawyer Remedios Espinosa, the officer in charge of the Import Assessment Service of the Bureau of Customs.

The IAB also found probable cause to indict Urmaza for attempted robbery and violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and ordered the forfeiture of his retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification from government service.

Urmaza has the rank of associate graft investigation officer III at the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO).

The Ombudsman said that an FIO investigation found that Urmaza had visited Espinosa for the purpose of extorting P500,000 from the latter in exchange for dismissing a pending case filed against her at the Ombudsman’s office.

Espinosa herself filed a complaint against Urmaza for attempted robbery (extortion), serious dishonesty, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. Cynthia D. Balana