Marcoleta tags Comelec chief Garcia in Caymans offshore bank controversy
Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (R) names Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia (L) as the listed owner of an offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands, presenting copies of bank transfer receipts to boost his claims during a press conference on Thursday, August 1, 2024. | PHOTOS: Official Facebook pages of COMELEC and Rodante Marcoleta
MANILA, Philippines — Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta named Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia as the listed owner of an offshore bank account in the Cayman Islands, presenting copies of bank transfer receipts to boost his claims.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Marcoleta said they tapped volunteers in New York, USA to make bank transfers worth $100 to two offshore bank accounts supposedly owned by Garcia.
He also alleged that receipts from Chase for Business indicated that the offshore bank accounts were under the name “George Erwin Mojica Garcia.”
READ: Who is Rep. Marcoleta?
“Our volunteer in New York deposited $100 to an account ending 8562. Later, I will show the entire bank account, but it shows the name of George Erwin Mojica Garcia,” the congressman said.
“That receipt came from a platform of a US-based institution, a reputable bank called JP Morgan Chase & Company. That’s a consumer and banking subsidiary of a reputable world-renowned banking institution based in America. That’s why the transaction records from Chase for Business can be considered authentic and untampered,” he added.
Marcoleta reported this development almost a month after he first revealed that at least P1 billion worth of funds were transferred from different banks, including those based in South Korea, to 49 offshore bank accounts allegedly linked to a Comelec official.
Marcoleta refused to divulge the identity of the Comelec official, even his or her rank, during the July 9 press briefing, but later in the day, Garcia said it was him being referred to by the lawmaker.
READ: Marcoleta: P1-B moved from foreign banks to poll exec’s offshore accounts
According to Marcoleta, there were certain developments in the poll body’s automated election system procurement when fund transfers occurred, like a money transfer on June 22, 2023, where a deposit worth $148,000 was made by a certain Stephen Schultz/Kyong Baek from Standard Chartered Bank and Jong Ro Main Branch in South Korea, to Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore.
This supposedly happened alongside Comelec’s declaration that vote-counting machines used in the past election were unserviceable.
READ: Comelec chief urged to clarify, address alleged bribery
INQUIRER.net contacted Garcia back then regarding the issue, and the poll body chief sent copies of a letter he wrote to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). In the letter to the NBI, Garcia requested an investigation of allegations that he has offshore bank accounts, which were spreading online.
On Thursday, INQUIRER.net again contacted Garcia to get his comments on Marcoleta’s latest accusations, but he has yet to reply as of this posting time.
