Corona’s garnished money in P130-M forfeiture case: P15,000

THE Sandiganbayan was able to garnish P5,000 more from another bank account of impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona, putting the total garnished money to P15,000 since he was ousted on false declarations of wealth.

According to the anti-graft court Second Division Sheriff Report on the writ of preliminary attachment, the court was able to garnish P5,000 from Corona’s Land Bank of the Philippines account in the Supreme Court extension office.

The court was notified of the garnished money on Feb. 29 in a letter sent by Land Bank of the Philippines Vice President Rosemarie Osoteo to Sandiganbayan Sheriff Alexander Valencia.

The anti-graft court Second Division released its fourth report dated March 18 on the preliminary writ of attachment to place on hold Corona’s estate, real and personal properties, as well as cash on bank with total worth of P130.59 million as part of a civil forfeiture case filed against him and his wife Cristina.

The writ has an effect of a freeze order to ensure that the respondents do not dispense of their properties as they face the charges.

READ: Total garnished money from impeached CJ Corona so far: P10,000

In the third report dated Jan. 5, the court garnished some P2,158.94 cash in Corona’s account at Land Bank of the Philippines, Taft Avenue branch.

In its second report dated April 28, 2015, the court was able to garnish some P615.06 in Corona and his wife Cristina’s account in Banco De Oro Loyola Heights-Berkeley Residences branch.

In the first sheriff’s report dated March 10, 2015, the court was able to garnish P1,056.27 in a Bank of the Philippine Islands account, as well as P6,524.71 in a Philippine National Bank account SSS Diliman Branch under the account name of Cristina Roco Corona.

READ: Sandigan finds P7,580 in Corona accounts amid P130-M forfeiture case 

This puts the total garnished amount to only P15,354.98, more than a year since the assets were ordered frozen in 2014.

READ: Sandiganbayan issues freeze order on Corona’s assets

According to the first sheriff’s report, four other accounts revealed no deposits on record by the Corona couple – United Overseas Bank, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, China Banking Corp. and Citibank.

Two other bank accounts – Philippine Savings Bank and Phil-Am Asset Management Inc. – showed that either there were no accounts by the Corona couple or that the respondents were not investors or shareholders of the funds.

The court has also temporarily frozen the following properties of the Corona couple which were allegedly undervalued or undeclared – condominium units from One Burgundy Plaza in Quezon City, The Columns in Makati, Bellagio I in Fort Bonifacio (including three parking slots), and Bonifacio Ridge, Fort Bonifacio, as well as a parcel of land in La Vista in Quezon city.

Corona was charged before the Sandiganbayan for eight counts of perjury and another eight counts of violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for allegedly lying in his Statement of Assets and Liabilities Networth (SALN).

The Sandiganbayan Third Division in 2015 found probable cause to try Corona for perjury and false declarations of wealth.

READ:  Sandigan finds probable cause to put Corona on trial for perjury 

The Ombudsman earlier indicted Corona for allegedly lying on his true net worth by not declaring properties and several bank accounts, as well as undervaluing a number of real-estate properties that he declared.

During its investigation, the Ombudsman said from 2001 to 2011, Corona and his spouse 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, his wife, 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.

But from 2002 to 2010, Corona’s cash deposits ballooned from P1.34 million to P137.9 million, the resolution said.

By 2010, the cumulative discrepancy between his SALN declaration and his actual cash deposits had 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 found to be significantly undervalued by P17.3 million.

Because of these allegations, the Ombudsman slapped the Corona couple with a P130.59-million civil forfeiture case.

READ: Corona, wife slapped with P130 M forfeiture case 

Corona in 2012 was impeached by Congress for false declarations of wealth in his SALN.

READ:  Historic impeachment trial ends gov’t career of Renato Corona