The Sandiganbayan 4th Division has dropped two forfeiture cases filed against former Armed Forces comptroller Carlos Garcia under a plea-bargaining agreement he forged with the Office of the Ombudsman.
Retired major general Garcia remained detained at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City after earlier pleading guilty to charges of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering.
The Ombudsman manifested to the Sandiganbayan that substantially all of the ill-gotten wealth of Garcia and his family had already been recovered through the plea bargaining deal.
The anti-graft court said that “it does not have enough evidence to support the forfeiture of the remaining properties listed in the petitions” against Garcia.
According to the decision released to the public recently, the withdrawal of the cases was made “to prevent the further waste of the court’s time, effort and resources.”
The Ombudsman last year turned over to the National Treasury P53.6 million and 11 real estate properties of the Garcias located in Baguio City, Batangas, Guimaras and Iloilo.
Garcia was initially charged with plunder which carries a jail term of 20 to 40 years.
However, the Sandiganbayan granted his plea in July 2022 to plead guilty to the lesser charge of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering.
Garcia was also fined P1.5 million.
The former high-ranking Armed Forces official had been accused of amassing at least P303 million in ill-gotten wealth.