Governments agents are set to file criminal charges with the Office of the Ombudsman against retired police general Marcelo Garbo Jr., whom President Rodrigo Duterte implicated in the illegal drug trade, and his wife for alleged ill-gotten wealth amounting to P35.36 million.
Complaints for falsification of public documents, violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act 6713), Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019), and forfeiture of properties in favor of the Philippine government (Republic Act 1379) will be filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against Garbo and his wife, lawyer Rosalinda Garbo, with the Office of the Ombudsman later Wednesday.
NBI to file charges vs “narco general” Marcelo Garbo and his wife Rosalinda before the Ombudsman for alleged ill-gotten wealth amounting to P35.36 million during the period 2005-2015. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/jWeynREXVO— Virgil Lopez (@virgillopez) November 29, 2017
Following an investigation that spanned from December 2016 to October 2017, the NBI concluded that the Garbo couple amassed assets way beyond their legitimate income and did not declare certain assets such as various vehicles and shares of stocks in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for the period 2005 to 2015.
Among the alleged undeclared assets were golf club shares worth P1.1 million and vehicles such as Hyundai Sta. Fe, Toyota Grandia, and Kia Sportage.
The NBI, meanwhile, recommended to the Department of Justice to make a request, through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, with the United States government to determine if indeed Rosalinda Garbo or any member of the Garbo family owns a real property in the US so that the property will be subject to forfeiture proceedings.
“Nung pinatawag na namin si General Garbo [last July], pumunta naman ang lawyer niya, we were expecting some explanation [on undeclared assets] pero he did not offer an explanation so we based our findings sa mga documents na na-gather namin,” NBI Anti-Graft Division head Nathaniel Ramos told reporters.
Ramos said they were not able to determine if the undeclared assets may have been sourced from proceeds from the illegal drug trade.
The NBI, however, said its probe on the drug links of the so-called “narco generals” is still ongoing.
Aside from Garbo, Duterte also implicated retired Chief Superintendent and now Daanbatayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot, former Western Visayas regional director Bernardo Diaz, former National Capital Region Office director Joel Pagdilao and former Quezon City Police District director Edgardo Tinio in the narcotics business.
Garbo has since denied his involvement in the illegal drug trade.
According to a report by GMA News Research, Garbo had a net worth of P44,669,917.45 in 2015, which was double to his net worth of P22,621,958 back when he was still a senior superintendent in 2005.
Garbo’s wealth in 2015 is evenly split between real property and personal assets: the biggest items in his SALN are a P15-million house and lot acquired in 2013 and P15,248,356.13 in savings.
The pay schedule from the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Records Management shows that a police official with the rank of deputy director general—Garbo’s rank before he retired in March last year—gets a monthly base pay of P59,210.
This amount excludes allowances, longevity pay, and other additional compensation.
As of posting time, Garbo has yet to respond to text messages and calls made by GMA News Online. Source: RSJ, GMA News
No comments:
Post a Comment