DOJ approves filing of case vs group in P3.8-B license plate deal

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the filing of case against officials of the consortium that won the P3.8-billion license plate contract of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the previous administration.

In a recently released resolution, the DOJ investigating prosecutors found probable cause to file cases of estafa through falsification of commercial documents, false testimony and perjury, and violation of Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Act) against officials Power Plates Development Concepts Inc. (PPDCI) and Dutch company J. Knieriem B.V. Goes (JKG).

The case stemmed from the complaint of the Anti-Trapo Movement (ATM) in August 2013 alleging that executives of PPDCI-JKG consortium “have consciously, intentionally and purposely submitted to an official government exercise what they know is an insufficient document and passing the same as authentic and accurate.”

Preliminary investigation conducted by the DOJ showed that the respondents, led by the consortium’s corporate secretary Ron Salo and managing director Christian Calalang, submitted to the Bids and Awards Committee a document they said was the audited financial statement of JKG as a requirement for bidding for the Motor Vehicle License Plate Standardization Program.

“However, upon careful examination of the said document, it turned out that it is not the audited financial statement of JKG. What the respondents submitted during the bidding were the 2011 annual accounts of the respondent JKG issued by the Chamber of Commerce of The Hague, The Netherlands, the 2011 consolidated accounts of H3 BV,” read the resolution by assistant state prosecutor Ricardo Estrabo.

The resolution also pointed to the letter from respondent Calalang where he “admitted that they submitted the financial statement of H3 BV, the parent company of JKG.”

“Thus, JKG and PPDCI submitted a falsified 2011 annual report and claimed it to be the audited financial statement of JKG because none such audited financial statement exists. Or if one exists, the contents will show that JKG is not qualified to bid for the [Department of Transportation and Communications]-LTO project. This would be the reasonable conclusion especially since the respondents did not submit their countervailing evidence showing their financial capability to undertake the project,” the DOJ said.

The DOJ added that the consortium used the falsified document to comply with the requirements to join the bidding.

The contract for the supply and delivery of motor vehicle license plates was eventually awarded to them.

“The respondents thus committed falsification and use of falsified documents during the bidding of the said DOTC-LTO project when they issued in an authenticated form a document purporting to be a copy of an original document when no such original exists, or including in such a copy a statement contrary to, or different from, that of the genuine original,” it explained.

The prosecutor, however, stressed that the liability of the respondent is not merely for falsification of document, perjury and violation of RA 9184, but also for estafa.

“They falsified the audited financial statement not only for purposes of bidding at the project but also to be able [to] defraud the government and the public. Through falsification, the respondents were awarded the project, manufactured or will manufacture the license plates, and sold or will sell the same to the public. That way, the government and the public incurred damages,” added the resolution approved by prosecutor General Claro Arellano.

In the same resolution, the DOJ took note of the possible conspiracy with government officials.

The resolution was dated Aug. 26 but released only in the second week of November and received by the ATM only last week.