The Sandiganbayan has affirmed the graft conviction of a private individual who tried to evade trial by fabricating her death.

Mary Ann Maslog, former agent and representative of Esteem Enterprises, was found guilty of violating Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in a decision dated Jan. 28.

She was convicted together with  two former officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) Culture and Sports Regional Office VIII -- former chief accountant Emilia Dela Vega Aranas and former chief of the Budget and Finance Division Ernesto R. Guiang.

With her guilty verdict, Maslog filed a motion for reconsideration and argued that there is insufficient evidence to establish all the elements of the offense. She added that the prosecution failed to prove the existence of conspiracy with Aranas and Guiang.

Maslog also said that her mere association with Esteem Enterprises, without direct proof of her active participation in the alleged conspiracy, is insufficient to sustain her conviction.

However, the court was not convinced and said that the prosecution has sufficiently established their acts of conspiracy. The court also found Maslog's actions during trial suspicious, as she tried many means to deceive the court.

"Instead of addressing the allegations and defending herself in court, accused Maslog deliberately chose to evade trial. Rather than presenting a legitimate defense, she engaged in deception -- assuming multiple false identities and even fabricating her own death. These acts demonstrate a calculated effort to escape legal accountability, contradicting her claim of innocence," the anti-graft court's resolution stated. 

"Accused Maslog's deliberate role in the fraudulent scheme -- from securing falsified documents to misrepresenting Esteem Enterprises -- proves intentional wrongdoing," the court said.  

"In sum, the accused failed to raise any novel issue or present compelling evidence to overturn her conviction. The Court finds that her motion is mainly a mere rehash of arguments already resolved in the decision dated Jan. 28, 2025," the court also said.

The six-page resolution was written by Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith A. Econg with the concurrence of Associate Justices Arthur O. Malabaguio and Edgardo M. Caldona.

To recall, the three accused were sentenced to suffer the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment of six years and one month as minimum to 10 years as maximum, with perpetual disqualification from holding public office because of their graft conviction.

The three of them processed the payment of Department of Budget and Management Sub-Allotment Release Order Nos. OSEC-8-98-015 dated Feb. 3, 1998 for P10 million and OSEC-8-98-062 dated June 22, 1998 for P14 million despite the fact that these were falsified.

The allotments were used as the basis for payment to Esteem Enterprises in the purchase of textbooks and supplementary materials.