Manila, Philippines—Prosecutors at the Office of the Ombudsman are hoping that the long arm of the law will catch up with the wife and sons of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia in New York, Las Vegas and Michigan in the United States.
The prosecutors have asked the fourth division of the Sandiganbayan to summon to court the former major general’s wife, Clarita Garcia, and their three sons in connection with the two forfeiture cases involving their alleged ill-gotten wealth. The forfeiture cases are separate from the P303-million plunder case, of which they are coaccused along with Garcia.
Among the assets that the government wants to recover from Garcia and his family are peso and dollar bank accounts, a condominium unit in New York, properties in the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras and Batangas, and a number of vehicles.
The assets covered by the forfeiture cases are among those turned over by Garcia to the government under his controversial plea bargain with state prosecutors concerning his plunder case.
Clarita Garcia and her sons—all American citizens—are the subjects of extradition requests from the Philippine government. All are free on bail of $1 million each.
Garcia himself is detained at the New Bilibid Prison, serving a two-year sentence after being convicted by a military court in December 2005 of violation of Articles of War for underdeclaring his assets and holding a “green card” (or permanent-resident status) in the United States.
The proper service of summons in the forfeiture case is necessary for the court to acquire jurisdiction over the Garcias. Should they fail to appear in court, the forfeiture case may still proceed as long as the court has acquired jurisdiction, according to former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo.
Marcelo also said an extradition request for the Garcias could only be requested in a criminal case, such as their plunder case.
It was the 2003 detention of two of the Garcias’ sons at the San Francisco International Airport for entering the United States with an undeclared $100,000 in cash that led to the investigation of their father, and the subsequent filing of the plunder and forfeiture cases against the family.
As a result of her sons’ detention and the confiscation of the cash, Clarita Garcia wrote letters to US authorities saying that as military comptroller, her husband had received gifts and “gratitude money” from companies awarded lucrative military contracts.
In an omnibus motion filed on Thursday, the prosecutors asked the Sandiganbayan to issue an order directing the Department of Foreign Affairs to serve the summonses on Garcia’s wife and sons at their last known addresses—Park Avenue in New York (Timothy Mark Garcia), Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas (Ian Carl Garcia), and Pebble Beach Dr. Pontiac in Michigan (Clarita and Juan Paulo Garcia).
The prosecutors said the Garcias should be personally served the summonses as provided for under the Rules of Court and because this was the cheapest mode.
In 2009, the Supreme Court stopped the Sandiganbayan from proceeding with the forfeiture cases against Clarita Garcia and her sons for lack of jurisdiction because of the improper service of the summonses.
In January of this year, the Sandiganbayan ordered the prosecutors to take the proper steps for the valid service of the summonses. But the prosecutors then said they had yet to make their move because of the plea bargain on the plunder case that was pending in the antigraft court’s second division.
The decision to finally seek the service of the summonses on Clarita Garcia and her sons was reached after consultation with the recently appointed Ombudsman, Conchita Carpio Morales.
Morales has submitted a position paper opposing and seeking to nullify the plea bargain between Carlos Garcia and Ombudsman prosecutors on his plunder case. The controversial agreement was approved in May but is not yet considered final.
Under the plea bargain, Garcia was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser offenses of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering and to post bail of P60,000. In return, he was ordered to turn over P135 million in assets to the government.
While Carlos Garcia was being tried for plunder and money laundering, his coaccused wife and sons remained in the United States.
Garcia had claimed in the plea bargain that his wife and sons had nothing to do with the cases he was facing in court.
In February 2009, Juan Paulo and Ian Carl Garcia were arrested and held in San Francisco on the charge of conspiracy to commit bulk-cash smuggling.
A month later, their mother and brother were arrested on the extradition request of the Philippine government and held in Michigan and New York, respectively.
Clarita Garcia and her three sons each posted bail of P1 million for their temporary liberty.