Multiple cases for alleged anomalous cooperative loan transactions in 2023 have been slapped against 14 former members of the Board of Directors of the Iloilo City Government Employees Multipurpose Cooperative.

The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) 6 filed administrative cases against the 14 ex-officials before the Adjudication Division of the CDA in August 2024 for serious dishonesty, disgraceful conduct, inefficiency, incompetence, grave abuse of authority, gross neglect of duty, two counts of gross negligence, and two counts of grave misconduct.

According to Atty. Jickney Fuentes, CDA 6 legal officer, it was discovered through their investigation that the cooperative has not regulated the loan transactions of officials and that there has been remiss in regular monitoring of the transactions made by the officials.

The accused have already been issued a Notice of Charge.

They can submit reportedly their position paper. Should they be found guilty of the charges, they will face possible suspension or dismissal from the cooperative.

As for Atty. Joseph Edward Areño, new Board chairman of the cooperative, imprisonment of up to 10 years and fines of up to P5,000 (5 thousand pesos) will be meted for those proven guilty of the charges under the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.

In relation to this, five former members of the cooperative are set to face a criminal case at the City Prosecutor’s Office for syndicated estafa.

Earlier, the issue on the coop being at the verge of losing its funds broke out due to the reported enormous loans by officials that reached approximately P31 million.