Inaprubahan ni Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ang pagsasampa ng kasong graft and corruption laban sa pitong opisyal ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) kaugnay sa pagbili ng mga depektibong rubber boat noong 2010.

Kabilang sa inirekomendang kasuhan ng paglabag sa Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices ang mga miyembro ng Inter-Agency Bids and Awards Committee (IABAC) ng DBM Procurement Service na kinabibilangan nina Undersecretary Evelyn Guererro, Director IV Lourdes Santiago, Procurement Management Officer V Julieta Lozano, Procurement Management Officer III Mervin Ian Tanquintic, Administrative Assistant III Alvin John Perater at ad hoc member Lt. Malone Agudelo.

Kasama rin sa pinakakasuhan ay si Anthony Hernandez ng JOAVI Philippines Corp., ang supplier ng mga rubber boat.

Napag-alaman ng anti-graft agency na hindi sumunod ang JOAVI sa itinalagang technical specification para rubber boat tulad ng kawalan ng intercommunication, inflation valve at over-pressure valve.

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Inakusahan din ang grupo ng pagsusumite ng palsipikadong technical evaluation report at post-qualification report.

“The participation of each of the respondents in perpetrating the scheme to defraud the government is so essential as a link to a chain that the desistance of any of them would prevent the chain from being completed,” pahayag ni Morales. (Jun Ramirez)