Former BOC director disbarred

THE Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer and former director of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for falsely claiming he has the authority to sell-off seized and forfeited vehicles by the bureau and then refusing to return the P1.4 million given to him by the unwitting buyer.

In a press statement released by the court last March 1, 2024, ordered stricken down from the Rolls of Attorney is Atty. Jorge P. Monroy, formerly the director of the BOC Financial Management Service (now the Financial Service).

Monroy was found guilty of violating Canon II, Sections 1, 2, and 28 of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA) and was disbarred from the practice of law.

The SC said Monroy “falsely represented” that as FS director, he has the “specific authority” to sell vehicles that have been seized by the agency.

Aside from disbarment, Monroy was also fined P20,000.00 by the court for his disobedience to the orders of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), to answer its summons and attend the hearings over the disbarment complaint filed against him by the would-be buyer, Julieta L. Co, his high school classmate and who described Monroy as a “trusted family friend.”

Co noted that despite turning over the entire amount to Monroy on two separate occasions, no delivery of the vehicle was made by Monroy who then resorted to various excuses on why he cannot release the vehicle.

Monroy was found to have committed a flagrant violation of Sections 1, 2, and 28 of Canon II of the CPRA when he deceived the complainant through an elaborate scheme of pretending to sell the Land Cruiser confiscated by the BOC.

The Court ruled that the totality of evidence presented clearly proved that Monroy miserably failed to live up to the high moral standards required of members of the legal profession.

(The case against Monroy was docketed under A.C. No. 13753, Julieta L. Co v. Atty. Jorge P. Monroy).