Opinion

General's sons tried to retrieve $100,000

January 17, 2011 | 12:00am

Three weeks after US feds seized from them $100,000 smuggled cash, brothers Ian Carl and Juan Paolo Garcia wrote separate excuse letters. Both letters were one-pagers, in the same font, paragraph and document settings. The date was similar: “09 January 2004”. So was the addressee: “Fines, Penalties and Forfeiture Office” in San Francisco, California, of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

Ian Carl, then 25, and Juan Paolo, 22, gave their address as “222 East 34th St. Apt 2202, (Manhattan) New York City”. Their statements confirm their luxurious lifestyle, beyond the legal earnings of their father Maj. Gen. Carlos Flores Garcia, then Armed Forces of the Philippines comptroller. Moreover, the wordings and careful presentation belie current claims that they were not being professionally assisted at the time. There’s more between the lines, like, their parents were using them as mules of plundered money.

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First, Ian Carl’s letter, as is:

“Respectfully request be informed that upon my arrival in the USA from the Philippines on 1410H December 19, 2003 aboard PAL Flight No. 104, My brother unintentionally did not declare on the Customs form the total amount of money we were carrying and hence was seized by the US Customs Service.

“I wish to inform you Sir/Madam that I did not have any bad nor malicious intentions on our non-declaration of the money I had in my possession. As the older brother it was my misjudgment that I let Juan Paolo fill up the form while I was sleeping. This was the first time I brought such amount of money as requested to us by our parents, my father, Carlos F. Garcia, a Filipino and my mother, Clarita D. Garcia, US citizen, were at that time at New York City, visiting my younger brother Timothy Mark D. Garcia who is residing at 222 East 34th St., Apt 2022 New York, NY, for the holiday seasons.

“The money we brought was for my medical check up because I am diagnosed with Hepatitis C positive. Since it was seized I was not able to proceed to Ohio for my medical check up. Also, it was intended to pay the tuition and registration fees of Timothy Mark who was accepted this school year at Parsons School, NY and to pay the initial down payment of the condominium he intends to stay. I am attaching a photocopy of the letter offer of the Corcoran Group Real Estate thru their agent Mr. Henry R. Beck for your perusal. Furthermore, part of the money is to be utilized for our family’s expenses during the holiday season, which our family intends to spend at New York.

“Sir/Madam, may I respectfully request relief from forfeiture of the seized money. Rest assured that I have learned my lessons and this will not happen again in the future. Hoping for your kind understanding and favorable consideration.”

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Now Juan Paolo’s, as is:

“Respectfully request be informed that upon my arrival in USA from the Philippines on 1410H December 19, 2003 aboard PAL Flight No. 104, I unintentionally did not declare on the Customs form the total amount of money I was carrying and hence was seized by the US Customs Service.

“I do admit and accept that I erred in not declaring the total amount of money I had in my possession because of my fear and apprehension of being questioned by Customs authorities. I have had a sad experience last October 2003 during my visit to US, when a Customs personnel inquired from me on why I have a First Class ticket fare since I was only a college student. I just politely answered them that it was given by my parents.

“I wish to inform you Sir/Madam that I did not have any bad nor malicious intentions on my non-declaration of the money I had in my possession. Being a US citizen, I was not aware of the gravity of such offense committed. This was the first time I brought such amount of money to the US as requested to me by my parents, my father, Carlos F. Garcia, a Filipino, and my mother, Clarita D. Garcia, US citizen, were at that time at New York City visiting my younger brother, Timothy Mark D. Garcia who is residing at 222 East 34th St. Apt 2202 New York, NY, for the holiday seasons.

“The money I brought was for the medical check up of my brother who is diagnosed with Hepatitis C positive. Also, it was intended to pay the tuition and registration fees of Timothy who was accepted this school year at Parsons School, NY and to pay the initial down payment of the condominium he intends to stay. I am attaching a photocopy of the letter offer of Corcoran Group Real estate thru their agent Mr. Henry R. Beck for your perusal. Furthermore, part of the money is to be utilized for our family expenses during the holiday season, which our family intends to spend at New York.

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