CJ’s unexplained wealth is P677-M—Ombudsman report

MANILA, Philippines – The total unexplained wealth of Chief Justice Renato Corona is about P677-million, according to the report of the special panel of investigators created by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales.

The bulk of the amount pertains to his alleged US$10-million deposits, based on information from the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). This is equivalent to nearly half-a-billion pesos. (During the trial, Morales said the amount is actually US$12-million.)

Summary of Possible Unexplained Wealth for 2001-2012
Details	Amount
Net increase in Net worth	Php 8,970,980.00
Add: Discrepancy in Bank Deposit	Php 36,770,878.35
Add: Dollar Bank Transactions dated 14 April 2003 to 22 December 2011	US$ 10,000,000 or Php 420,000,000.00
Add: Peso Bank Transactions dated 16 April 2003 to 9 February 2012	Php 242,000,000.00
Less: Combined income of spouses Corona	P30,369,120.13
Total unexplained wealth = Php 677,372,738.22

 

“Analyzing the accumulated wealth of Subject Corona for the period 2001-2010 by using the acquisition value of the acquired real assets and the bank transactions in comparison to the supposed income earned and known income from 2001-2011, it is apparent that Subject Corona has acquired wealth that is not commensurate to his known income,” reads the Ombudsman’s 20-page report.

“It is also worthy to mention that the daily cost of living commensurate to the social stature of the Subject’s family as well as the various travels abroad of Subject spouses have not yet been taken into account. Thus, if we are to include the same, it would significantly increase the total possible unexplained wealth,” it adds.

On Friday, May 11, the Office of the Ombudsman sent its report to House Speaker Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte Jr, including 4 bundles of documents pertaining to its investigation on the Chief Justice. This report was the subject of Morales’s testimony in the Senate.

Aside from the House of Representatives, Ombudsman Morales ordered that the same report be referred to the Senate and the Anti-Money Laundering Council “for their information and appropriate action.” The investigators’ report said the findings may involve violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The recommendation reads: “Wherefore, premises considered, it is most respectfully recommended that a copy of this investigation report, together with the records of these cases be referred to the House of Representatives, the Senate of the Philippines, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council for their information and appropriate action.”

The report was prepared by panel chairman Assistant Ombudsman Joselito Fangon, and special panel of investigators Ferdinand San Joaquin, Christopher Soguilon, Rholie Besoña, Epicurus Charlo Salcedo, and Moses Buzmion.

The documents involved

The special panel looked into the following documents:

1. Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth of Chief Justice Renato Corona from 1992-2010
2. Certificate of Allowances and Bonuses from the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET)
3. Certificate of Allowances and Bonuses from the Senate Electoral Tribunal
4. Record of Senate impeachment proceedings on January 25-26 and February 6, 2012
5. Titles from the Land Registration Authority
6. Travel records of the Chief Justice
7. Securities and Exchange Commission documents
8. Department of Trade and Industry documents
9. Articles of impeachment, annexes and exhibits from the prosecution panel
10. Bank records from the Anti-Money Laundering Council
11. Tax declarations of real properties
12. Birth and marriage certificates

SC refuses to comply

The Office of the Ombudsman also asked the Supreme Court for several documents, but it refused to comply.

The Ombudsman asked for Corona’s SALN from 2002 to 2010 and the Certificate of Yearly Compensation, allowances, and bonuses.

The request for Corona’s SALNs is pending before the SC en banc.

For the records of Corona’s salaries and bonuses, SC accountant Lilianne E Ulgado said they cannot accede to the request because “the request is improper.”

The response reads: “It constitutes an indirect violation of Sec 3(5), Art. XI of the Constitution which prohibits the initiation of impeachment proceedings against the same official more than once within a period of one year. There is already an ongoing impeachment proceeding against the Chief Justice in the Senate as an impeachment court. Thus, at this stage, any other impeachment complaint or any other investigation for the purpose of filing an impeachment complaint against the Chief Justice is improper. What cannot be done directly may not be done indirectly.”

Upon the instruction of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, the Senate also refused to furnish the Ombudsman copies of Corona’s SALNs and bank certifications from PSBank and BPI. But the Senate provided them journals of the impeachment trial.

The Ombudsman is also waiting for documents on Corona’s income tax returns from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, loan details from the Government Service Insurance System, and information from the Social Security Service. – Rappler.com

Discrepancy of Subject’s Bank accounts

Year	Total Year End Balance	Amount Declared in SALN	Amount of Discrepancy
2007	P5-million (PSBank account)	P2.5 million	P2.5 million
2009	P8.5 million (PSBank)	P2.5 million	P6 million
2010	P19.7 million (PSBank) and P12 million (BPI)	P3.5 million	P28 million
Total = P36.7 million

 Condominium properties with respective acquisition cost

Kind	Location	Year Acquired	Acquisition Cost
Condominium 1	Quezon City	2003	2,758,800.00
Condominium 2	Makati City	2004	3,588,931.82
Condominium 3	Taguig City	2005	9,159,940.00
Condominium 4	Taguig City	2009	14,510,225.00
Total: Php 30,017,896.82