NBI charges man for viral post claiming he had P12-B in BPI account

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed criminal complaints against a man for falsely claiming that his cash deposits had ballooned to P12 billion following the system glitch that hit the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) last month.

Daniel Angelo Salasalan is facing complaints for falsification by private individuals and use of falsified documents under the Revised Penal Code and online libel under Section 4(c)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

The complaints were filed before the Manila Prosecutor's Office.

NBI Cybercrime Division chief Head Agent Manuel Eduarte said Salasalan admitted during their investigation that he only made up the story on his social media page that said more than P12 billion had been deposited on his account following the BPI glitch.

Reports said Salasalan only had around P12,000 in his account prior.

During the Senate probe into the incident, BPI officials said the system glitch was caused by a system programmer who was in a rush to post transactions.

They further disclosed that the employee had since been transferred to another post as they looked into the incident, adding that she voluntarily came forward to own up to her mistake.

The system glitch affected 1.5 million out of the eight million clients of BPI, the country's third biggest lender in asset terms. —JST/KVD, GMA News