Ex-ambassador to Nigeria gets 17 years for malversation

The Sandiganbayan has convicted a former Philippine ambassador to Nigeria for misusing over P3 million assistance fund intended for kidnapped Filipino seafarers in 2007.

Masaranga Umpa, who was ambassador to Nigeria from 1996 to 2008, was sentenced to up 17 years in jail, according to a news release from the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday.

The anti-graft court said Umpa committed three counts of malversation of public funds over the misuse of the Assistance-To-Nationals (ATN) Stand-by Fund totaling $80,478.80 or P3,749,948.98.

"Ombudsman prosecutors were able to prove that in February 2007, the Philippine Embassy to Nigeria received US$95,856.08 to cover expenses needed for the negotiations and repatriation of 25 Filipino seafarers who were kidnapped in Port Harcourt and Warri Delta State, Nigeria," the Ombudsman said.

It said the prosecutors were also able to present the results of an independent verification made by the  Internal Audit Service Team of the Department of Foreign Affairs, which showed that Umpa fabricated liquidation documents and that several transactions or expenses he reported were fictitious.

The Sandiganbayan also pointed out that as a former accountant of the Commission on Audit for over a dozen years, the irregularities in the ATN fund would not have escaped Umpa's notice.

Ultimately, the Sandiganbayan said that as head of post and head of the negotiating team working for the release of the kidnapped seafarers, Umpa was not only accountable for the fund but was also immediately and primarily responsible for it.  

“He cannot legally pass on or transfer his accountability and primary responsibility for said ATN Funds to his AO (Administrative Officer) and FO (Finance Officer), because, as head of the government agency who received and entrusted with government fund, he was still accountable,” the court said.

In addition to his jail sentence, Umpa is also permanently disqualified from holding public office and was ordered to repay the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) $80,478.80 or the equivalent of P3,749,948.98 that he misused.

Umpa, 74, has appealed the conviction, according to a March 18 report on the Manila Times.  —Patricia Denise Chiu/KBK, GMA News

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