NBI nabs BIR man for extortion

An official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at an uptown department store while in the act of extorting money from a real estate broker.

NBI operatives led by executive officer Ernesto Macabare arrested Revenue Officer II Omar B. Mamongcara, 54, at past 1:00 o'clock yesterday afternoon while in the act of accepting money from the complainant.

Mamongcara, a native of Marantaw, Lanao del Sur and is assigned at the BIR in Mandaue City, demanded P50,000 from Elenita Maranga, 48, a real estate broker from Cordova, Cebu, for him to process the deed of sale of the lot that the complainant's clients have purchased in barangay Canjulao, Lapulapu City.

Maranga, in her affidavit, said that Mamongcara, who was referred by her friend, offered to fix the deed of sale of the lot that her clients, Danny Tan and Caridad YrogYrog, bought from Corazon Gonzales in Canjulao.

Mamongcara however asked grease money from her to be able to process the documents. At first, Mamongcara did not fix the amount because it would allegedly depend on the selling price of the lot.

Upon learning that the lot was sold at P800,000, Mamongcara allegedly asked for P50,000 to process the deed of sale. But, instead of directly giving the amount, Maranga went to the NBI for assistance and the entrapment operation was set up.

Mamongcara tried to resist arrest, but his efforts went to naught due to the presence of several NBI operatives. Mamongcara reportedly tried to ask NBI regional director Medardo De Lemos that his case be settled, but was instead advised to contact his lawyer. The BIR official will be charged with extortion, violations of the Republic Act 3019 otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, R.A. 6713 otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and administrative case before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas today. Lawyer Jose Hermie Monsanto, who is the agent on case, said that based on their investigation Mamongcara has also victimized a Chinese-Filipino businessman last week. The BIR official allegedly offered to facilitate the payment of the taxes for that businessman.

Monsanto said the businessman issued two checks amounting to P40,000 supposedly for payment of taxes but Mamongcara did not hand the check to the BIR as payment and instead had them cashed by a loan shark.

Upon learning about it, the businessman cancelled the checks that prompted the loan shark to ask Mamongcara to return his money but the BIR official allegedly refused to pay. Monsanto said that Mamongcara allegedly asked the loanshark to give him a transaction so that he could pay him back.

Mamongcara is now detained at the NBI office. - FRED P. LANGUIDO