Sandiganbayan dismisses forfeiture cases vs ex-AFP comptroller Carlos Garcia

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed the forfeiture cases against former military comptroller Carlos Garcia following the implementation of the plea bargaining agreement.

The three justices comprising the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division granted the Office of the Ombudsman's motion to withdraw the two civil cases against Garcia, a retired major general of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and his family, on December 7, 2022.

In its motion, the anti-graft office said that "substantially all" of the properties sought to be forfeited in these cases have already been recovered under the plea bargaining agreement and that it does not have enough evidence to support the forfeiture of the remaining properties listed in the petitions.

Last September, the Ombudsman turned over P53.6 million and 11 real estate properties to the National Treasury.

"Hence, it is withdrawing these cases to prevent further waste of the Court's time, effort, and resources," the resolution read.

"As with the plea bargaining agreement, the withdrawal of these petitions rests with the Ombudsman," it added.

In July 2022, the Sandiganbayan found Garcia guilty of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering, sentencing him to four to eight years of imprisonment.

Garcia pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering instead of plunder and money laundering for amassing P303.2 million worth of ill-gotten wealth while he was in the military. —VBL, GMA Integrated News