Sandiganbayan dismisses forfeiture case vs late ex-CJ Corona, family

MANILA — The Sandiganbayan 2nd Division dismissed the forfeiture case filed by the Office of the Ombudsman against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, his wife Cristina, and other associates.

• Chief Justice Corona impeached

In its decision promulgated Thursday, the anti-graft court noted that the Coronas have other sources of income apart from their salaries as public officials.

• Supreme Court grants retirement benefits to late chief justice Corona

Cristina once served as a member of the Board of Directors and eventually Chairperson of the John Hay Development Corporation under the Arroyo administration.

“Since respondents were able to sufficiently explain the legality of their undisclosed cash assets, they cannot be held liable for forfeiture of their properties,” the court said in the decision penned by Associate Justice Arthur Malabaguio, with the concurrence of Associate Justices Michael Frederick Musngi and Oscar Herrera Jr.

• Corona found guilty

In the petition for forfeiture of the Office of the Ombudsman under the administration of Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, it was asserted that the Coronas have actual cash assets, peso and dollar combined, as of end of 2010, amounting to P137.937 million.

It was noted in the decision that based on the investigation of the Ombudsman, the cash assets declared by Corona in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth as of 2010 was P3.5 million and the undeclared cash assets amounted to P134.437 million.

The Ombudsman’s complaint also included supposedly undervalued properties of the Coronas such as units at One Burgundy Place in Quezon City and The Bellagio in Taguig City, as well as a parcel of land in La Vista, Quezon City.

In the 2014 resolution of the Ombudsman, there was reasonable ground to believe that the Coronas have acquired wealth grossly disproportionate to their legitimate income and should be subjected to forfeiture proceedings in favor of the State.

The court however stated in its decision that the Coronas have been working and saving funds since the early 1960s and they were able to sufficiently explain the legality of their undisclosed cash assets through witnesses.

“At most, respondent CJ Corona may be held guilty of simple negligence for having failed to ascertain that his SALNs were accomplished properly, accurately, and in more detail. Such administrative could have been imposed upon him, however, it was pre-empted by his death,” the court said.

With the dismissal of the forfeiture case, the court also ordered that the writ of preliminary attachment issued in 2015 against the properties of the respondents be set aside and lifted.

Corona, who passed away in 2016, was ousted as Chief Justice in 2012 over his failure to disclose his wealth in his SALN as required under the Constitution.

• Former Chief Justice Corona dies

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