Fiscal robs ex-employer during NLRC hearing

MANILA, Philippines - A prosecutor from Masbate province allegedly robbed his former employer of P2 million during a hearing at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) building in Quezon City Friday.

Richard Lee reportedly took the P2 million that was supposed to be paid to him as a settlement by  Fortune Medicare  Inc., which laid him off in 2004, said Inspector Alan dela Cruz, chief of the Quezon City Police District’s theft and robbery section.

Dela Cruz said Lee, during the hearing, refused to sign the settlement agreement. Lee said the P2 million was only a partial payment because the firm owed him P3.2 million, investigators said.

Lee was with two unidentified men, believed to be armed, during the hearing, Dela Cruz said.

Fortune Medicare’s in-house lawyer, Melan Espela, 31, asked why Lee was demanding P3.2 million when there was already an agreement. “You made a fool of me so I will make fools of you,” Lee allegedly said in Filipino, according to Dela Cruz.

Espela told police officers that she tried to stop one of Lee’s companions from taking a brown envelope, which contained the money, from her but the man acted as if he was ready to pull out a weapon.

Dela Cruz said they consider the incident a robbery since Lee did not sign the agreement.

Guards at the NLRC failed to prevent Lee and his companions from leaving, Dela Cruz said, adding that the incident was caught by surveillance cameras at the NLRC.

Investigators have yet to get a copy of the surveillance camera footage.