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The Sandiganbayan has found probable cause to try Optical Media Board (OMB) chairman Ronnie Ricketts and four others for graft.
The Office of the Ombudsman earlier filed a graft complaint against Ricketts over the alleged return of confiscated pirated DVDs and VCDs to its manufacturer.
The four other officers are Cyrus Paul Valenzuela, Manuel Mangubat, Joseph Arnaldo, and Glenn Perez.
The anti-graft court has released the arrest warrants. So far, only Valenzuela has posted bail.
The arraignment of the five will be on Jul 23.
According to the complaint, the officials “willfully, unlawfully and criminally gave unwarranted benefits, advantages and preference to Sky High Marketing Corp.”
An investigation earlier revealed that the OMB team seized over 100 boxes of pirated DVDs and also arrested three Chinese nationals.
The seized items were then brought to the OMB office but were pulled out in the same evening without any approved gate pass by a truck owned by the raided establishment.
The Ombudsman said the unjustified release of the confiscated items compromised the evidence.
Text: Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News
Photo: OMB
