The Office of the Ombudsman has cleared Malabon-Navotas Cong. Federico “Ricky” Sandoval II and his wife, former Malabon Vice Mayor Jeannie Sandoval, on the alleged misuse of P20 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
In an order dated July 24, 2019 but was released only last week, the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint against then congressman Sandoval who was accused of conniving with officials of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in connection with the misuse of his PDAF amounting to P20 million.
The Commission on Audit found irregularities on the release and use of the said PDAF which allegedly favored the Pamalakaya Foundation, Inc. (PFI) of which Jeannie, then mayor, was one of the incorporators.
In their joint counter-affidavit, the Sandovals said there were no violations or irregularities in the release of the P20 million funds, adding that they were not the accountable officers as they did not handle the funds directly.
The couple said that there was no conflict of interest when the funds were released to PFI as it was the DSWD that chose the beneficiary.