BI OFFICIAL ARRESTED: Caught Taking P100,000 Bribe Money ?

An official of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) was arrested for allegedly receiving P100,000 in bribe money from a computer supplier during an entrapment operation late Friday afternoon, the Department of Interior and Local Government-Special Task Force (DILG-STF) reported yesterday.

Arrested was Rustam Alipuddin, 61, chief of the BI-Financial Management Division, of 23 Dollar St., Central Bank Homes, Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City. He will be charged under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

DILG-STF director Chief Inspector Nelson Yabut said Alipuddin was apprehended in a coffee shop at the Manila Midtown Hotel along Adriatico street, Ermita, Manila at around 5:45 p.m. Friday, shortly after taking P100,000, purportedly a part of the bribe money, from complainant Eric Malabad and undercover police agent PO1 Angelo Nicolas.

Yabut said the arrest stemmed from the complaint of Malabad, owner of Fil-Mosaic Data System that Alipuddin "negotiated for a processing fee" for the release of P7.5 million to pay for computer accessories of the BI.

Fil-Mosaic Data System won the bidding to supply computer accessories to the BI in December 1999.

Malabad told probers that his company started working on the contract last April. On May 3, Malabad said he was at the BI to meet Alipuddin, when a certain Art Cordero approached him. Cordero discussed with him the "processing fee" so he could easily get the BI’s P7.5 million payment.

Malabad added that he was brought by Cordero and Alipuddin to a coffee shop where the BI official demanded P600,000.

He was able to trim down the demand to P300,000 to be paid on three occasions, P50,000 initial payment and P100,000 when Malabad gets the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) from the Department of Budget and Management. NCA is the form used to withdraw the money for a government deal from the bank.

The balance of P150,000 in the ‘processing fee’ would be given to Alipuddin when the company had collected the full payment of the contract price.

When he was about to complete the "processing fee," Malabad said Alipuddin demanded an additional P120,000 and threatened that he would not sign the release should Malabad refuse.

Sensing that Alipuddin had started abusing his generosity, Malabad decided to seek the help of DILG Secretary Alfredo Lim who tasked Yabut to personally work on the case.