DOJ to refile estafa case over PhilHealth ghost claims scheme

The Department of Justice (DOJ) will simply refile its dismissed estafa case against three people linked to an alleged PhilHealth ghost claims scheme before the proper court, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Tuesday.

"No harm done. We were actually withdrawing the information filed with the regional trial court (RTC), but were overtaken by the court's order," Guevarra said in a message to reporters.

The Quezon City RTC has dismissed the case for estafa through falsification of public documents against WellMed Dialysis Center owner Bryan Sy and two former clinic employees, Edwin Roberto and Liezel Santos De Leon, for lack of jurisdiction.

The court ruled that the case is within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Trial Court because the offense charged has a maximum penalty of six years imprisonment. The ruling does not touch on the merits of the case and allows its refiling in the proper venue.

Guevarra said the DOJ had decided to withdraw the charge when it learned the evidence it was waiting for from the National Bureau of Investigation was "not forthcoming."

The DOJ indicted Sy, Roberto and De Leon for allegedly conspiring to rake in  payments from PhilHealth for alleged medical services to patients who had already died.

For its part, WellMed, the dialysis clinic, welcomed the court's ruling dismissal of the case, which it considers an acknowledgment that the offense charged is not a grave felony.

It also assailed Roberto and De Leon's provisional admission into the DOJ's Witness Protection Program, saying the law that governs the program states that a person may only be admitted if their testimony concerns a grave felony.

The clinic insisted it did not collude with PhilHealth officials in the purported processing of the alleged ghost claims and denied allegations of plunder and graft and corruption.

The company had earlier pinned the blame on its former employees, Roberto and De Leon, who revealed the alleged scam last June.

"Kung totoo po ang sinasabi nila, at may malasakit sila sa publiko, dapat ay handa silang managot sa kanilang inaming partisipasyon sa krimen na walang hinihinging anumang kapalit na benepisyo, proteksyon at immunity mula sa gobyerno," WellMed said in a statement.

WellMed also vowed to cooperate in investigations of the alleged scheme. —KBK, GMA News