BIR employee in Zamboanga guilty of money laundering

MANILA, Philippines — An employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)’s Zamboanga City office was found guilty of money laundering for extorting P500,000 from a victim and maintaining 36 bank accounts.

The Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court Branch 12 convicted Flora Sarau Albao, Revenue Officer IV of Revenue District No. 93A of BIR Zamboanga City, for 12 counts of money laundering, punishable under Sections 4(a) and 4(b) of Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended, the Department of Justice said.

She was initially nabbed for extorting P500,000 from her victim during an entrapment operation in May 2022.
Investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) later discovered Albao owned 36 accounts in four banks.

She deposited “an average of P93,000 from May to August 2022,” which was “more than double” her average monthly salary of P49,835 as a Salary Grade 19 employee, the DOJ said.

The court sentenced Albao to seven to 13 years in prison and P3-million fine for each of the first six money laundering cases, and four to six years in prison and P1.5-million fine for each of the remaining six money laundering cases.

The DOJ lauded the conviction, which was prosecuted by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane Sytat along with AMLC Legal Officers Charlemagne Tambo and Claudine Joy Gonzales.