Retired Armed Forces of the Philippines Comptroller Carlos Garcia. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The United States government, through its Ambassador Harry Thomas, turned over Thursday to the Philippines $100,000 (roughly P4.4 million) that was seized from the sons of retired Armed Forces of the Philippines Comptroller Carlos Garcia.
The money was recovered by US authorities from Garcia’s sons Juan Paulo and Ian Carl in December 2003. They were charged with bulk cash smuggling when US authorities discovered that the money was stashed in their luggage and made false statements to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers. Both had pleaded guilty to the charge. The brothers spent approximately 100 days in custody and a year and a half with electronic monitoring.
The Philippine government had requested the US government to return the money by virtue of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty since this was part of the ill-gotten wealth accumulated by Garcia, said Thomas who gave the money to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales at her office in turnover ceremonies that were also attended by US Department of Justice Attache Robert Courtney III, Deputy Attache Eric McLoughlin, Resident Legal Advisor Robert Strang.
It was also in response to the 2010 letter sent by then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez who said that “the $100,000 seized by the District Court of Northern California from Juan Paulo Garcia and Ian CarlGarcia in December 2003, are part of the ill-gotten wealth being pursued by the Office of the Ombudsman.”
The US government said the money was believed to be part of the P303-million ill-gotten wealth of Garcia and his family.
“I’m happy to grant your request today as a symbol of the United States’ support for the anti-corruption efforts that you’re leading,” Thomas said before handing the check to Morales in a simple ceremony at the Office of the Ombudsman. “We will continue to work with the Office of the Ombudsman in these anti-corruption efforts.”
Juan Paulo and Ian Carl Garcia were held in a US airport in 2003 after being caught in possession of an undeclared amount of $100,000 on a trip from Manila to San Francisco.
They were indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco and charged with conspiracy to commit bulk cash smuggling, failing to file a report on the import of monetary instruments and making a false statement to a government agency.
They pleaded guilty to the charges, and part of the court sentence was to return the money to the Philippine government, according to Thomas.
Their arrest and detention led to the investigation of their father and the subsequent filing of plunder and forfeiture cases against the family. Clarita Garcia wrote US authorities saying that her husband Garcia had received gifts and “gratitude money” from companies awarded military contracts.
Garcia, who escaped conviction on charges he plundered P303 million by forging a controversial plea bargain with the previous Ombudsman, was convicted by a military court of violating Articles of War 96 and 97 and sentenced to two years of hard labor. He was sent to the national penitentiary in September 2011.
Morales, who submitted a position paper asking the Sandiganbayan to nullify its resolution approving the plea bargain last year and to resume Garcia’s trial, hailed the recovery of the amount and said the Ombudsman was grateful for the return of the money to the Filipino people.
“I join the entire nation today as we reap the fruits of years of monitoring, law enforcement, investigation, coordination and prosecution,” she said.
“With the combined efforts of the United States and the Philippines pursuant to the treaty between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Government of the United States of America on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, the fight against corruption takes a big leap in asset recovery,” she added.
“Indeed the year 2012 ushers in a new hope and a fresh start for all of us. It also provides the needed push in sustaining the momentum of the nationwide campaign to uphold integrity in all aspects of governance,’’ she said.
“Gradually, we are building and reaching that critical mass of social awakening in good governance. That the impossible is, after all, possible. That there is light at the end of the tunnel. That there are real honest and dedicated workers in government. That crooks in government could really get punished. That stolen money of the people can be recovered,” she added.