Corona faces P130-M ill-gotten wealth case

MANILA, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman ordered yesterday the filing of a P130.3-million ill-gotten wealth case against former chief justice Renato Corona and his wife Cristina before the Sandiganbayan.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales said additional criminal charges for eight counts of perjury and multiple violations of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees would also be filed against the former chief justice.

The cases all stemmed from an investigation conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO) that bared how Corona and his wife accumulated unexplained assets from 2001 to 2011 which were not declared in their statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) during the same period.

In a 22-page resolution that Morales approved on Tuesday, a special panel of investigators determined that for the 10-year period, the Coronas earned a total income of P30.369 million, of which P27.145 million was earned by Corona as an official at the Office of the President, a justice of the Supreme Court, member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET), and a member of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET).

Cristina, for her part, supposedly earned P3.223 million from 2007 to 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 Office of the Ombudsman’s probe found out that from 2002 to 2010, Corona’s actual cash deposits ballooned from P1.337 million to P137.937 million.

By 2010, investigators said the cumulative discrepancy between his SALN declaration and his actual cash deposits had amounted to more than P134.437 million.

The Ombudsman said Land Registration Authority (LRA) records on several properties owned by the Corona spouses in Quezon City, Makati City and Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City showed how the same were significantly undervalued by P17.297 million.

Probers said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) even issued certifications stating that the Coronas have no existing business registered in their name despite Corona’s SALN declaration from 2003 to 2009 that his wife is connected with Basa Guidote Enterprises, Inc.

In sum, the Office of the Ombudsman determined that the total unexplained wealth is at least P130.336 million - which covers a net worth increase of P8.970 million - 134.437 million in undeclared bank deposits, and P17.297 million in undervalued cost of their real properties, less P30.369 million in combined income.

The Ombudsman noted that the total amount of alleged unexplained wealth of P130,336,212.88 is actually a conservative estimate as it includes cost of living allowance commensurate to their stature and expenses entailed by travels abroad.

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

The Office of the Ombudsman said 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 is P14.510 million.

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

The Office of the Ombudsman said the former chief justice will also be charged for violation of RA 6713 for not filing true and detailed SALN from 2003 to 2010 where 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.

Ombudsman Morales said she has directed the filing of a petition for forfeiture of ill-gotten wealth before the Sandiganbayan along with the sets of criminal charges for perjury and violation of RA 6713.