ONLY P10,354.98 has been garnished from the bank assets of former Chief Justice Renato Corona over a P130.587,012.7-million forfeiture case he and his wife Cristina are facing before the Sandiganbayan.
The anti-graft court’s Second Division issued its Jan. 6 thirdreport on the preliminary writ of attachment to freeze Corona’s estate, real and personal properties, and bank deposits, saying it was only able to garnish P2,158.94 from the bank assets of Corona with the Land Bank of the Philippines’ Taft Avenue branch on Oct. 16, 2015.
According to sheriff IV Alexander Valencia, the Sandiganbayan earlier garnished P6,524.71 from Cristina’s account with Philippine National Bank, P1,056.27 from Corona’s account with the Bank of the Philippine Islands and P615.06 from the couple’s joint account with Banco de Oro.
He said the Batangas City’s assessor’s office even certified that Corona’s wife did not have any real property tax.
Earlier, the anti-graft court’s Sheriff Office placed Corona’s seven condominium units in Quezon City’s Loyola Heights, Taguig City’s Global City and Makati City’s Ayala Avenue, and a real estate in Quezon City’s La Vista.
For alleged ill-gotten wealth of the Coronas, in May 2014, the Second Division issued a writ of preliminary attachment, directing Valencia to freeze the couple’s P130.59 million worth of assets, including that of “their dummies, trustees, assignees, nominees, transferees and success-in-interest.”
The Sheriff Office’s first report of garnishment showed the Coronas’ accounts in the United Overseas Bank, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., China Banking Corp., Citibank, Philippine Savings Bank and Phil-Am Asset Management Inc. did not have any deposits. Corona is facing eight counts of perjury and another eight counts of violations of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees for misdeclaration in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth from 2001 to 2011.
In January 2014, in a 22-page resolution, the Office of the Ombudsman asked the Sandiganbayan to freeze the alleged hidden wealth of the Coronas, saying the special panel of investigation found that the couple amassed huge wealth which was not reported in Corona’s SALNs.
Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales said Corona’s bank deposits ballooned to over P130 million from P1.3 million in 2002.