Joey Marquez guilty of graft, posts bail, to appeal Sandigan ruling

From GMANews.TV 08/30/2007 | 09:03 AM -

Former Parañaque mayor Joselito "Joey" Marquez on Thursday posted bail if P240,000 and said that he will file an appeal after he and three co-accused were convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan.

The bail was posted hours after it was learned that the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division had sentenced Marquez to up to 50 years imprisonment over the anomalous procurement of brooms worth over P2.9 million, which the Commission on Audit discovered were overpriced by P462,708.

The brooms were purchased from January 1996 to September 1997 during Marquez's tenure as Parañaque mayor.

In a 30-page decision, the graft court ruled that Marquez and three other former city officials caused undue injury to the government because of the anomalous deal.

The three former city officials who were also found guilty are Silvestre de Leon (city treasurer), Marilou Tanael (city accountant), and Ofelia Caunan (officer-in-charge, general services section).

Marquez and the three co-accused were ordered to each post P90,000 bail bonds, as well as P150,000 additional cash bonds.

They were instructed to reimburse the P462,708, or the deal's overpriced value.

Complete details at GMANews.TV.