NBI Arrests Man Posing as SC Official on Facebook
On August 20, 2022 in Parañaque City, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested Mark Jasper C. Reyes a.k.a. Mark Gil Cloma De Guzman, a native of Cauayan City, Isabela, who has been misrepresenting himself as Atty. Jed Sherwin G. Uy, Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Technology Officer of the Supreme Court, and using his alleged connections in the government in exchange for money.
The NBI SAU set the entrapment operation which led to the arrest of the suspect.
The NBI has already charged Reyes for estafa, computer-related Identity Theft, multiple counts of Computer-related Forgery, violation of Anti-Alias Law, and Usurpation of Authority before the Office of the City Prosecutor in Parañaque.
The arrest spawned from the complaints of the real Atty. Uy and Christine Chung dela Rosa. In her complaint, Dela Rosa claimed that on August 8, 2002, Reyes contacted her through Facebook and posed as Atty. Uy. She said that Reyes discussed issues concerning a decision of the Court of Appeals in a case involving her late father and bragged about his government connections.
Upon learning that Dela Rosa is the President/CEO of the Dela Rosa Construction and Development Corporation, Reyes allegedly offered to help facilitate accreditation for her firm in exchange for P450,000.00. She eventually confirmed that the real Atty. Uy is a different person and, on August 18, went to the NBI Special Action Unit (SAU) to file a formal criminal complaint.
Atty. Uy, who heads the Management Information Systems Office of the SC, personally appeared before the NBI SAU to execute an affidavit to deny any involvement and to clear his name. He also informed SAU that the suspect is similarly engaged in other fraudulent activities victimizing a lawyer-doctor and a Mayor in Palawan and in Lamitan, Basilan.
In a statement by Supreme Court Spokesperson Atty. Brian Hosaka, he said: “We are grateful to the NBI for their swift action which led to the arrest of the alleged impostor. The Supreme Court treats all allegations of malfeasance seriously, and will cause an immediate investigation of any purported illegal activities in the Judiciary. We also encourage the public to report to us any purported misconduct or wrongdoing by a judge, court official, or employee in order for us to investigate the matter immediately.” [Supreme Court of the Philippines. NBI Arrests Man Posing as SC Official on Facebook. Last retrieved: August 24, 2022 at 10:54 AM.]
