NGO probed on fake USAID receipt allegations

Former employees of an anti-human trafficking NGO have accused the group of producing 35,000 forged documents to justify up to $5m in allegedly misused USAID donations.

The accusations come several months after the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) conducted a raid on a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Visayan Forum. NBI found around 35,000 allegedly falsified documents and investigators began quizzing staff and other witnesses about practices at the NGO.

"According to the employees who we talked to in the office...they had a day designated to...fabricate the receipts, that they called 'doctorate day," NBI chief Rachel Marfil Angeles told local news organisation Rappler. Employees told NBI investigators they used adhesives and other materials to tamper with receipts.

Witnesses claim the practice took place to cover up up to $5m in allegedly misspent donations from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Visayan Forum denies the accusations, claiming that the falsified receipts appear to stem from a former bookkeeper who has then tried to frame the boss.