Apr 252013
 
The Sandiganbayan First Division on Thursday has ordered the arrest of former military comptroller Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot in connection with the 11 counts of perjury charges filed against him.

The Sandiganbayan also prohibited Ligot from leaving the country without clearance from the court.

“After perusing the Informations and evaluating the resolution of the prosecutor, the evidence in support thereof and the records of the preliminary investigation attached thereto, it appears that sufficient grounds exist for the finding of probable cause for the purpose of issuing a warrant of arrest against the accused charged in the instant cases,” the anti-graft court said in its resolution.

Ligot’s bail bond was set at P6,000 per count, or a total of P66,000.

The charges, filed by the Office of the Ombudsman last April 13, were related to a forfeiture case earlier filed against Ligot, his wife Erlinda, their children Paulo, Riza, Miguel, and relatives Edgardo Yambao and Miguela Paragas for the recovery of unexplained wealth allegedly worth at least P135.28 million.

Graft investigators said the former military general concealed assets by omitting them from his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) for the years 1993 to 2003.

Ligot, retired since 2004, served as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) comptroller from July 1999 to March 2001. He and his family were accused of amassing P135,280,822.11 in unexplained wealth, including several hectares of land in Bukidnon and Rizal, posh condominium units, houses and lots in the United States, several vehicles, and millions of pesos in deposits. — KBK, GMA News

Apr 022013
 
SC lifts freeze order on ex-AFP comptroller Ligot's assets

The Supreme Court has ordered the lifting of the freeze order issued by the Court of Appeals on the assets of retired military comptroller Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot, saying the order already violates his right to due process. In a 24-page ruling penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the SC’s Second Division agreed with Ligot’s petition contesting the six-month extension of the freeze order that the CA issued on July 5, 2005 and extended through an order issued on September 2005. The CA order stemmed from the June 27, 2005 request of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze the assets of Ligot, who is accused of amassing millions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth while he was comptroller of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from July 1999 to March 2001, and not declaring P54,001,217-worth of assets in his Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth. In its decision issued on March 6, the high court acknowledged the CA findings that there is probable cause that the frozen assets could be related to or could be the product of unlawful activity. “It should be noted that the existence of an unlawful activity that would justify the issuance and the extension of the freeze order has likewise been established in this case,” the SC said. However, the high court faulted the CA for extending by six months the original freeze order, saying: “The effectivity of a freeze order may be extended by the CA for a period not exceeding six Read More …