ZAMBOANGA CITY – An employee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue here who was arrested during an entrapment operation in 2022 was convicted by the Regional Trial Court of money laundering.
The Regional Trial Court Branch 12 sentenced Flora Sarau Albao, Revenue Officer IV of Revenue District 93 A of BIR Zamboanga City, to seven to 13 years for six money laundering cases and a P3-million fine for each count and four to six years imprisonment for the remaining six counts with fines of up to P1.5 million for each count. Penalties shall be served successively.
Anti-Money Laundering Council investigation showed that Albao maintained 36 bank accounts in four banking institutions where she deposited an average of P93,000 from May to August 2022, an amount double her salary of P49,835 per month.
Albao was apprehended in a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) entrapment operation on May 27, 2022 for allegedly extorting P500,000 from a certain Ledesma.
Aside from violation of RA 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, Abao also faced charges for direct bribery, robbery with intimidation, and violation of Republic Act 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, filed before the Zamboanga City Prosecutor’s Office.