A person who misrepresented himself as a lawyer working at the Supreme Court (SC) was arrested by agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Aug. 20 in Parañaque City.
In a press release issued by the SC’s public information office on Tuesday, Aug. 23, the impostor lawyer was identified as Mark Jasper C. Reyes, alias Mark Gil Cloma De Guzman, a native of Cauayan City in Isabela.
The PIO said that Reyes “has been misrepresenting himself as Atty. Jed Sherwin G. Uy, deputy clerk of court and chief technology officer of the Supreme Court, and using his alleged connections in the government in exchange for money.”
It said the NBI has charged Reyes with estafa, computer-related identity theft, multiple counts of computer-related forgery, violation of Anti-Alias Law, and Usurpation of Authority before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Parañaque.
Reyes’ arrest was executed by the NBI on complaints of the real Atty. Uy and Christine Chung dela Rosa.
The PIO said that Dela Rosa claimed that on Aug. 8, 2002, Reyes contacted her through Facebook and posed as Atty. Uy.
It said that Reyes discussed with Dela Rosa issues concerning a decision of the Court of Appeals in a case involving her late father and bragged about his government connections.
“Upon learning that Dela Rosa is the President/CEO (chief executive officer) of the Dela Rosa Construction and Development Corporation, Reyes allegedly offered to help facilitate accreditation for her firm in exchange for P450,000,” it said.
It added that when Dela Rosa eventually confirmed that the real Atty. Uy is a different person, she went to the NBI Special Action Unit (SAU) to file a formal criminal complaint against Reyes.
The NBI SAU set the entrapment operation which led to Reyes’ arrest.
The real Atty. Uy, who heads the Management Information Systems Office of the SC, personally appeared before the NBI SAU to execute an affidavit to deny any involvement and to clear his name, the PIO said.
He also informed SAU that the suspect is similarly engaged in other fraudulent activities victimizing a lawyer-doctor and a mayor in Palawan and in Lamitan, Basilan.
PIO Chief Atty. Brian Keith F. Hosaka said:
“We are grateful to the NBI for their swift action which led to the arrest of the alleged impostor. The Supreme Court treats all allegations of malfeasance seriously, and will cause an immediate investigation of any purported illegal activities in the Judiciary.
“We also encourage the public to report to us any purported misconduct or wrongdoing by a judge, court official, or employee in order for us to investigate the matter immediately.”