MANILA, Philippines -- Retired major general Carlos Garcia, the former comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, pleaded not guilty, on Tuesday, to the money laundering charge the Office of the Ombudsman filed against him and his family.

The Sandiganbayan Second Division held the arraignment for the complaint filed by the Ombudsman, which is related to the four-year plunder trial also pending with the court against the Garcias.

The Ombudsman accused Garcia, his wife Clarita Depakakibo and her sons Ian Karl, 30, Juan Pablo, 27 and Timothy Mark, 25 of using some P303 million of ill-gotten funds for which they were previously charged with plunder in 2005.

The Ombudsman said the family members conspired to deposit and withdraw allegedly illegally sourced huge amounts using numerous bank accounts between July 2002 and July 2004.

In the complaint, the Ombudsman defined money laundering as ?a crime whereby the proceeds of an unlawful activity are transacted, thereby making them appear to have originated from legitimate sources.?

In earlier interviews, Garcia?s camp had denied the plunder charge, saying the prosecution could not prove that the family amassed P303 million.

Garcia is detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center while his wife and sons were arrested in different states in the US earlier this year after being at large for four years. They are temporarily free on bail as the government seeks their extradition.

The Ombudsman already lost in three of the four perjury charges it earlier filed against Garcia.

It won one perjury case last February and is prosecuting two forfeiture cases and the P303-million plunder case against the retired general and his family.