CA rules whistleblower in 2019 ‘ghost dialysis’ scheme can’t be state witness
The Court of Appeals (CA) has overturned a Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruling that allowed the discharge of a whistleblower in the alleged 2019 “ghost dialysis” scheme to become a state witness.
In a 24-page decision dated Oct. 30, the appellate court’s 11th Division reinstated a Municipal Trial Court (MTC) decision that denied the motion to discharge Liezel Aileen de Leon as a state witness.
The CA ruling effectively holds that De Leon must continue to stand trial as one of the accused in the case.
The appellate court also directed the RTC to lift the suspension of proceedings and resolve the case with dispatch.
The case stemmed from the criminal information filed in 2019 for the crime of estafa through falsification of public documents against several individuals connected to the WellMed Dialysis and Laboratory Center Corp. in Quezon City.
Necessary step
The scheme was exposed in a three-part Inquirer investigative report. Former WellMed employees Edwin Roberto and De Leon accused their employer of defrauding the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) by allegedly using dead patients to file kidney treatment claims.
The revelation led to the discovery of irregularities in the state health insurance firm and led to the forced resignation of its top officials.
De Leon and Roberto were among those charged as authorities said this was a necessary step before they could be tapped as state witnesses. Also charged were Bryan Christopher Sy, Claro Sy, Therese Francesa Tan, Porshia Natividad, John Ray Gonzales and Joemie Soriano.
In her role as PhilHealth officer and cashier at WellMed, De Leon was tasked to accomplish and prepare PhilHealth claim forms, handle cash payments from patients and issue the corresponding receipts.
After she resigned in May 2018, the dialysis center discovered that she had certified hemodialysis treatments without the attending physician’s approval as well as issued fake cash vouchers and acknowledgement receipts to patients.
During the court proceedings, the prosecution in 2022 filed a motion to remove De Leon’s name from the charge sheet so she could be used as a state witness.
The MTC, however, denied the motion, saying her testimony was not substantially corroborated, adding that she appeared to be the “most guilty” due to her direct involvement in processing the fake claims with PhilHealth.
The prosecution then filed a petition before the Quezon City RTC, alleging that the MTC had committed grave abuse of discretion.
The RTC granted the petition in 2023 and directed the trial court to allow De Leon’s discharge as a state witness.
Respondents Bryan Sy, Claro Sy and Tan then challenged the RTC’s decision before the CA.
Respondents’ challenge
Bryan Sy, WellMed owner and vice president, specifically asserted that the elements to discharge an accused as state witness were absent and had not been backed with enough evidence to satisfy the quantum of proof required.
In its ruling, the CA found a reversible error on the RTC’s part when it ruled that the MTC committed grave abuse of discretion in denying the motion to discharge De Leon as state witness.
“The Court is baffled how respondent court was able to rule that all these essential requisites were adequately proven by the prosecution when the testimonies and judicial affidavits of its first two witnesses, namely, John Cueto and Lailanie Padua, as well as other evidence by the prosecution, were not attached to the petition,” the CA said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Raymond Javier.
According to the appeals court, a review of the assailed decision left an impression that the RTC “rendered its rulings based on the sheer, unsubstantiated claims of appellees.”
