PCSO Official Spent Lotto, Sweepstakes Prizes
An official of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is entitled to be imprisoned after squandering lotto and sweepstakes prizes.
Most Filipinos love to play lottery games and bet on sweepstakes hoping to win a large amount of cash. Unfortunately, there are only a few people who have the lucky fate to bag the lottery prizes, but what if the prize has been already spent?
The Regional Trial Court in the Quezon City has sentenced a certain PCSO official for squandering the prizes in lotteries and sweepstakes.
The official who squandered the prizes has been identified as Angelica Fajardo, Cashier V and working as Office-in-Charge-Division-Chief of Prize Payment Division of PCSO. Fajardo was sentenced to be imprisoned for 13 to 19 years inside the jail for malversation of the public funds.
The Ombudsman has presented 4 witnesses for the case hearing. The witnesses testified Fajardo’s anomalous action by spending some amount from the P3-million cash advance given to her by the PCSO as payment over alleged lotto and sweepstakes low prizes.
PCSO discovered Fajardo’s anomalous act after receiving complaints from the winner of Scratch-It tickets when their prizes were not paid on due time. PCSO conducted an audit and found out a missing amount of P1, 877, 450. Fajardo also admitted for squandering the lotto and sweepstakes prizes.
What can you say about the PCSO official who squandered the prizes in lotto and sweepstakes? Just feel free to leave your comments and reactions for this article.