Twenty-one officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. are facing a criminal complaint before the Department of Justice for allowing WellMed Dialysis Center to continue making “ghost” dialysis claims.
National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Vicente de Guzman III said yesterday that the NBI Anti-Graft Division filed the complaint last Tuesday for preliminary investigation by the DoJ.
In its complaint, the NBI-AGD accused the 21 respondents of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act; RA 10606, the National Health Insurance Act of 2013; and gross inexcusable negligence under RA 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Named respondents are Philhealth Accreditation Department head Dr. Rizza Mahella Herrer and members of the Accreditation Sub-Committee of Philhealth Regional Office-National Capital Region, including branch manager Dr. Lolita Tuliao; Dr. Bernadette Lico, Dr. Janice Gem Perlas, Dr. Leilani Cherillina Joy Asprer, Dr. Rofien Ison, Dr. Manuel Lampitoc, Atty. Recto Panti, Henry Almanon, Dr. Jeffrey Pe, Dr. Quintin Callueng, Atty. Mary Grace delos Santos, Maricel Maglalang, Susan Rebecca Romero, Yvonne Fernandez, Dr. Katrina Marie Aguilar, Dr. Cynthia Camacho, Dr. Imelda Trinidad De Vera-Pe, Dr. Arsenio Alcantara, and Dr. Letecia Gay D. Aguda.
The investigation against the 21 Philhealth officials is an offshoot of the NBI probe conducted against WellMed which resulted into the filing of charges against WellMed owner Dr. Bryan Christopher Sy before the Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court over allegations that WellMed was involved in “ghost dialysis” procedures by defrauding PhilHealth with bogus claims using the names of dead patients, as bared by whistleblowers Edwin Roberto and Liezel Aileen de Leon, both former employees of WellMed. (Jeffrey Damicog)