THE NATIONAL Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed a corruption complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman against 13 officials of the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) and a private individual after it found irregularities in the bidding for a P60 million building project, it said in a statement.

Government agents accused NCMH officials of colluding to rig the bidding to favor a local construction company.

They said NCMH still awarded the contract to the builder despite a flaw in its tax clearance.

The NBI accused the officials of misusing public funds by allowing the private company to receive payment of P60 million even if it lacked supporting documents.

The Health department in a separate statement said it supports the complaint based on the findings of the NBI.

“The project has been mired by procurement irregularities and remains unfinished despite the certificate of completion issued to the contractor,” it said. — VMV

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