A former general manager of a bus firm has been cleared of graft and estafa charges related to a multi-million tax credit scam from the 1990s.

In a 35-page resolution dated 22 March, the Sandiganbayan Third Division acquitted Elenita Mababangloob, former general manager of Juaymah-Maureen Transport Service, for the failure of the prosecution to sufficiently support a conviction.

Juaymah-Maureen Transport Service operates public utility buses registered with the Board of Investments.

The charges against Mababangloob involved alleged violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) and estafa. Despite her ineligibility to receive such, she was accused of collaborating with Department of Finance executives to secure tax credit certificates amounting to P9,167,447 in 1997.

The prosecution discovered that Juaymah, through Mababangloob, submitted spurious or altered documents and later “misappropriated, misapplied and converted” P746,867 of the total sum to the firm. The remaining P8,420,579.30 was unutilized because it was subsequently dishonored by the DoF, thereby causing undue injury and damage to the government.