Ex-coop staff faces theft, falsification

CEBU, Philippines – A former cooperative coordinator was charged with theft and falsification of commercial documents for allegedly stealing over P100,000 worth of bank checks.

Leslie Tanjay, resident of Barangay Labangon, was indicted by associate prosecution attorney Sarah Vanessa Lacno after finding probable cause for eight counts of falsification and theft.

Tanjay, a former owner-member of Asiapro Multipurpose Cooperative (ASIAPRO), allegedly stole 14 bank checks totaling to P112, 286.23 and falsifying the signatures of the payees in the eight checks.

This prompted ASIAPRO, represented by its finance specialist Josephine Dela Cerna, to file criminal complaints against Tanjay.

Tanjay, who served as the field coordinator of ASIAPRO, was tasked to coordinate with Dela Cerna on accounting matters that she had to follow up on behalf of the other members.

The accused reportedly frequented the office of Dela Cerna and was allegedly aware of where the checks are kept. It was on January 2, 2014 when an ASIAPRO member went to their office to claim the money due from the cooperative.

Dela Cerna then discovered that 14 checks including the vouchers were missing and also found that the whole batch of checks issued for December 2013 was missing.

Based on the investigation conducted, the guard on-duty reportedly saw Tanjay inside the office on December 27 and 28, 2013. Dela Cerna then reported the missing checks to the bank and requested to stop payment.

On January 6, 2014, Dela Cerna received a call from a check changer who complained that three checks were dishonored by the bank due to a stop payment order.

Dela Cerna later found out that the three checks rediscounted to the accused were among the missing checks of the cooperative. She then examined the endorsements in the three checks and noticed that the handwriting on the said checks were familiar.

The cooperative sought the assistance of the Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory to conduct examination and comparative analysis on the handwritten endorsements on the three checks and on the handwritings of Tanjay from some of her records with ASIAPRO.

Based on the findings of the PNP, there were “significant fundamental similarities in the formation, construction and other individual handwriting characteristics” between the two handwritings.

ASIAPRO reviewed its records and discovered that another batch of 93 checks were missing and unreturned but were not negotiated by Tanjay.

According to the complainant’s records and bank statements of the cooperative, the stolen checks were brought to a check changer for rediscounting as early as December 4, 2013.

Further, the alleged stolen checks were also reportedly endorsed by the accused based on her handwriting wherein Tanjay allegedly forged the signatures of the true payees, which caused an amount of P37, 928.43 to be debited in the account of ASIAPRO.

ASIAPRO originally filed complaints against Tanjay for theft through falsification of a commercial document for the eight checks which were allegedly cashed and another case for theft under Article 308 and 309 of the Revised Penal Code for the other 93 checks allegedly stolen.

Tanjay was directed to submit her counter-affidavit through a subpoena sent in April 2014 which was returned since the accused could no longer be found in her address.

Lacno then resolved the complaint based on the evidence at hand and found probable cause to indict Tanjay for theft on the 14 checks she allegedly stole.

She also held the accused liable for eight counts of falsification of commercial document on the alleged falsified signatures of payees in eight checks. —/FPL (FREEMAN)