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Bacolod City, PhilippinesWednesday, January 4, 2012
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PhilHealth admin stops
premium scam group

After two months under a new management, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. said in a press release that it has uncovered and neutralized a syndicate that ripped off a private firm’s multimillion-peso premium payment.

Dr. Eduardo Banzon, who was designated PhilHealth president and chief executive officer, said they have already called in the National Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Money Laundering Council to complete the investigation toward filing the appropriate criminal charges against the culprits.

Banzon said the premium diversion scam was exposed when PhilHealth staff performing heightened verification and reconciliation of remittances, detected a discrepancy in premium collection data.

He said a premium payment check was encashed at a private commercial bank but the payment never reached PhilHealth. The money was not credited to PhilHealth’s account, but went elsewhere, he said.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue uncovered a similar tax payments diversion scam years ago.

Syndicate members, including BIR staff and employees of private companies who colluded with the erring bank officers, are now facing trial for money laundering, fraud, and falsification, the press release said.

“There are crooks everywhere. We are warning them. We will spare no effort in running after them. They will be apprehended, and they will be put behind bars,” Banzon said.

“We have zero tolerance for fraud, consistent with President Aquino’s ‘daang matuwid’ policy,” he added.

The findings of an investigation panel created by Banzon indicates that the syndicate may have been operating as early as 2009, the press release from PhilHealth said.

Initial findings also indicate that over P100 million in premium payments were diverted.

Meanwhile, Banzon urged all companies to observe existing (remittance) policies and procedures as prescribed by PhilHealth, and to immediately report any attempts to circumvent protocols to their nearest (PhilHealth) service office, the press release also said.*

 

 

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