Ombudsman denies Corona’s bid to dismiss forfeiture case

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines—Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales denied on Wednesday an appeal by former Chief Justice Renato Corona to review its previous ruling finding probable cause to indict him and his wife Cristina in connection with their alleged P130-million ill-gotten wealth case.

In a 15-page order denying the Corona couple’s motion for reconsideration, Morales said she found no cogent reason to reverse the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) resolution dated Jan. 14, 2014 indicting the Coronas.

Morales directed the immediate filing of a petition for forfeiture with the Sandiganbayan, along with sets of criminal information for eight counts of perjury and eight counts of violation of Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees).

During the investigation, the OMB Special Panel of Investigators was able to establish that from 2001 to 2011, the spouses Corona earned a total of P30.4 million, of which P27.1 million was earned by Corona as an official at the Office of the President, a Supreme Court justice, member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), and member of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

On the other hand, Cristina earned P3.2 million for 2007-2010, based on the Alpha List submitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) by the John Hay Development Corp. (JHDC) where she was employed.

The resolution stated that from 2002 to 2010, Corona’s cash deposits ballooned from P1.34 million to P137.9 million. By 2010, the cumulative discrepancy between his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) declaration and his actual cash deposits amounted to P134.4 million.

The resolution also cited records of the Land Registration Authority (LRA) on several properties owned by the Corona spouses in Quezon City, Makati City and Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, which were established to be significantly undervalued by P17.3 million.

The Ombudsman estimated the Coronas’ unexplained wealth at P130.3 million.

On the charges for perjury, the resolution said the sworn declarations in Corona’s SALNs were false, as Corona failed to include the numerous peso and dollar bank accounts (in his 2003-2010 SALNs), a condominium unit at The Columns, Makati City (in his 2004-2009 SALN), and a condominium unit at Spanish Bay Tower in Taguig City (in his 2005-2009 SALN).

Corona was found to have only declared P6.8 million as the acquisition cost of a condominium unit in Bellagio I in Taguig City in his SALN for 2010, when the true acquisition cost was P14.5 million.

In his SALNs from 2003 to 2009, Corona also undervalued the property located at La Vista in Quezon City by P8 million.

Corona was also charged with violation of RA 6713 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for not filing true and detailed SALNs for 2003-2010, when the value of his declared cash assets, and the actual bank deposits had substantial discrepancies, and his real assets in Makati, Taguig and Quezon City were not declared.

Corona was impeached by the House of Representatives on Dec. 12, 2011. The Senate voted on May 29, 2012 to convict Corona for his failure to disclose his true SALN.

As this developed, the Department of Justice has recommended the filing of tax evasion charges against Corona’s son-in-law  Constantino Castillo III, saying  his “expenses outweighs his income.”

In a resolution dated Feb. 20 but which was only released on Wednesday, a DOJ task force found probable cause to indict Castillo  for two counts of violating Section 254 (attempt to evade tax payment) and two counts of Section 255 (failure to file an income tax return) of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano said the DOJ would file on Thursday (Mar. 27) the tax evasion case against Castillo before the Court of Tax Appeals.

“Based on the foregoing, we find that there is probable cause that respondent Castillo has undeclared income for taxable year 2003 and undeclared income for taxable year 2009..,” said the resolution of the DOJ panel led by its chair Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzuela.

The DOJ panel did not say how much exactly Castillo, a physician by profession, owed in taxes but the BIR had sued him for P20.24 million in tax liabilities in 2013. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

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