'Ghost dialysis' scam whistle-blowers arrested —lawyer

The two whistleblowers who revealed a dialysis clinic's alleged scam collecting payments from PhilHealth for already deceased patients were arrested on Thursday, their lawyer confirmed Friday.

Edwin Roberto and Leizel Santos de Leon were arrested in connection with the estafa case against them and one of the owners of WellMed Dialysis Center that is pending in the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court (MeTC), said Harry Roque, the whistle-blowers' lawyer.

Cris Jandusay, also their lawyer, said the two accused are in the custody of Novaliches police.

Roque, formerly President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, described the arrest as "unjust." Jandusay said late Friday morning that they are processing the P610,000 bail set for each of the two.

Roque told GMA News Online over the phone that he is urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to ask the court to turn the two into state witnesses. He later told Super Radyo dzBB that a motion on this matter is not scheduled to be taken up by the court until November 10.

Roque said Roberto and De Leon lost coverage under the Witness Protection Program when the case was refiled before the MeTC after being dismissed by the city's regional trial court (RTC).

But he said in the radio interview that he is going to appeal to Ombudsman Samuel Martires to take custody of the two under what he said was the Office of the Ombudsman's authority to provide witness protection.

Roberto, De Leon, and WellMed owner Bryan Sy face charges for estafa through falsification of official documents for allegedly conspiring to collect payments from PhilHealth for alleged medical services to patients who had already died.

The DOJ first filed the case before the Quezon City RTC but the trial court dismissed it for having been filed in the wrong court, prompting the prosecution to refile it before the MeTC.

Roque said the case should be for malversation and not estafa because public funds were involved in the alleged scam.  —KBK/RSJ, GMA News