Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested an immigration officer in an entrapment operation in a coffee shop in Intramuros, Manila after receiving P1.5 million for the release of a detained overstaying foreigner.
Arrested was Joel Sales Mon, an Administrative Assistant II of the Bureau of Immigration assigned at the Office of Deputy Commissioner Aldwin Alegre.
The suspect was nabbed after the victim, Angela Quipones, complained that Mon asked for P1 million for the release of her husband, who was detained by the BI for overstaying.
According to the NBI report, Quipones first gave P1 million to Mon but the latter asked another P500,000, supposedly for the signature of his superior.
The arresting NBI agents claimed that Mon was with Alegre’s driver while receiving the “marked money.” However, the driver was not apprehended but will be included in the probe.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente immediately fired Mon as he vowed to take action on all the complaints against corrupt BI personnel.
The bureau was marred by corruption charges in 2018 with the arrest of two former deputy commissioners over a P50-million corruption scandal.
Former deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles were accused of receiving P50 million in bribes in exchange for the release of more than 1,300 illegal Chinese workers who were arrested from a casino in Clark, Pampanga in November 2016.