MANILA, March 1 -- The Supreme Court (SC) has disbarred a lawyer who used his position as a director of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in a scheme of pretending to sell a vehicle confiscated by the bureau 24 years ago.

In a statement Friday, the SC said it disbarred Jorge Monroy from practicing law and fined him PHP20,000 for violating the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability (CPRA).

This stemmed from his act of falsely claiming that as Director III of the BOC - Financial Services at the time, he has the specific authority to sell vehicles seized by the agency.

Court records showed that the complainant, Julieta Co, the lawyer's long-time family friend, said in July 2000, Monroy offered to sell her a Toyota Land Cruiser s...