The Office of the Ombudsman announced that it had submitted cases concerning two counts of graft and malversation for preliminary investigation against Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco “Lalo” Matugas and former congressman Francisco “Bingo” Matugas II.

In a press briefing on Friday, Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said that the two politicians were found to be conspiring with officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and had stakes in Boometrix Development Corporation.

Boometrix was previously tagged as one of the top contractors in Surigao del Norte, being awarded a total of 125 projects from 2017 to 2024.

The particular project that was tagged as the subject of the criminal complaint was related to the P80.61 million Majayjay-Tuburan road project in Del Carmen that was supposedly tagged as fully complete.

State investigators, however, found that the project was only 65 to 70 percent complete despite P31 million already being released.

Clavano noted that investigations into the public officials identified that they had a direct link to the project.

“Investigators also documented P457 million in loans between the former legislators and Boometrix, supporting the conclusion that both held direct, pecuniary interest in the contract,” he said.

The particular charges that were sought against the respondents were for graft 3(e) and 3(h) and for malversation through falsification of public documents. The DPWH officials, meanwhile, are set to face administrative charges.

Under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, a violation of Section 3(e) constitutes a crime that allegedly caused direct or indirect injury to the government of a public official in the discharge of their administrative functions.

Section 3(h), on the other hand, prohibits officials from having direct and indirect pecuniary material interest in any transaction connected with a board that they participate in.

Separately, the Ombudsman said that an ethics complaint against Lalo would be referred to the House Committee on Ethics for later transmission to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

Clavano noted that while the Ombudsman had conducted its own investigations, the initial findings on the officials came from the Independent Commission on Infrastructure and the DPWH.

“This is what we call a conflict of interest because it is not possible that the beneficiaries of the contracts funded by the Congress are also congressmen,” Clavano explained.

The case against the father and son are the latest officials that have been filed with cases related to infrastructure projects.