A Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officer has been convicted of multiple counts of money laundering after investigators discovered 36 bank accounts with transactions that far exceeded her government salary, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said Monday.

The Zamboanga City Regional Trial Court Branch 12 found Flora Sarau Albao, a Revenue Officer IV, guilty of violating the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The case originated from a 2022 National Bureau of Investigation entrapment operation in which Albao was accused of extorting P500,000 from a taxpayer. A subsequent investigation by the Anti-Money Laundering Council uncovered a pattern of suspicious financial activity across several major banks, including Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO.

Court records showed that Albao earned approximately P49,835 a month, yet maintained monthly deposits averaging P93,000 over a four-month period in 2022. Prosecutors, led by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Mary Jane Sytat, argued these funds were tied to illicit activities, including bribery and graft.

The court sentenced Albao to seven to 13 years in prison for each of six major counts of money laundering, with a fine of P3 million per count. She received an additional four to six years for six other counts, each carrying a P1.5-million fine. The court ordered the sentences to be served successively.