More ‘ghost’ stories: Deped sues schools invoucher scam
The Department of Education (DepEd) has filed criminal charges against seven private schools tagged in the so-called “ghost beneficiaries” scam involving the senior high school (SHS) voucher program.
In a statement to the Inquirer on Wednesday, the DepEd said the charges include estafa through falsification of commercial documents and violations of the Cybercrime Prevention Act.
Four cases have been lodged against school representatives of three schools while four more “will soon be filed,” according to the DepEd.
Education Secretary Sonny Angara reported the legal actions to the House committee appropriations during a hearing on Wednesday.
“We have filed a case against seven private schools with ghost beneficiaries … before the fiscal’s office. There is already a demand letter for those (schools),” he said.
P61.9M
According to Angara, the cases involved a total of P61.9 million in funds intended for the SHS voucher program.
Deped withheld the names of the seven schools pending the review of similar cases.
In March this year, the agency terminated the participation of 55 schools in the program for various reasons, including for filing claims for students who did not exist or were not eligible.
The program was rolled out in 2015 for the benefit of students from low-income families. It was also aimed at reducing overcrowding in public schools since grantees could enroll in private institutions using the vouchers.
Each voucher is worth between P14,000 and P22,500, depending on the students’ location. —Dempsey Reyes and Faith Argosino
