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Viewing cable 05MANILA2821, EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS -- LAW ENFORCEMENT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
05MANILA2821 2005-06-21 08:09 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Manila
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MANILA 002821 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/PMBS, EB, INR/EAP, INR/B 
TREASURY FOR OTA 
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION DEPUTY ASSISTANT AG BSWARTZ 
JUSTICE ALSO FOR OIA CHIEF MWARLOW 
DHS FOR ICE/OIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KCOR CVIS ECON RP
SUBJECT: EMBASSY ANTI-CORRUPTION EFFORTS -- LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
REF: A. MANILA 2712 
     B. MANILA 2578 
     C. MANILA 1641 
     D. MANILA 0388 
     E. 04 MANILA 5262 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Over the past year, Mission has stepped 
up law enforcement anti-corruption efforts.  Mission played a 
key role in major anti-corruption cases, particularly the 
case against former Comptroller of the Armed Forces of the 
Philippines (AFP) General Carlos Garcia.  We are now actively 
investigating specific GRP officials suspected of corruption. 
 We continue to explore ways to integrate the visa function 
with anti-corruption efforts by use of databases and 
interviewing techniques.  We have established an Embassy 
anti-corruption working group (ACWG) as well as a bilateral 
anti-corruption working group.  Our efforts have helped 
invigorate the GRP anti-corruption program and also have 
helped the GRP pinpoint where it, as a Millennium Challenge 
Threshold Country candidate, could use MCC funding to bolster 
its own anti-corruption efforts.  End Summary. 
 
------- 
DHS/ICE 
------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  Immigration and Customs Enforcement (DHS/ICE) 
Manila has been working closely with Philippine law 
enforcement agencies on corruption cases.  In the Garcia 
case, DHS/ICE officials at San Francisco International 
Airport confiscated approximately $100,000 in cash from 
General Garcia's sons as they attempted to bring the 
undeclared money into the US (ref E).  The subsequent 
investigation uncovered Garcia's possession of millions of 
dollars in unexplained funds and assets in the US.  The sworn 
statement of General Garcia's wife to US authorities, in 
which she admitted corruption on her husband's part, was a 
central piece of evidence in the case.  DHS/ICE and DOJ, in 
close cooperation with the GRP's Anti-Money Laundering 
Council (AMLC) and Office of the Ombudsman, have seized 
assets of Garcia in the US, including a Trump Tower 
condominium in Manhattan, and are looking into forfeiture and 
money-laundering cases against him in the US.  The DHS/ICE 
Attache testified in Garcia's court-martial trial regarding 
Garcia's US permanent resident status.  As part of its probe 
into corruption-related money laundering of Politically 
Exposed Persons (PEP), DHS/ICE Manila, working closely with 
the GRP Ombudsman, is investigating additional senior 
military officials in the AFP, former senior GRP Bureau of 
Customs officials, and certain other senior GRP officials, 
all of whom appear to have substantial assets in the US. 
 
3.  (SBU)  DHS/ICE Manila is also working to tighten the net 
around corrupt GRP officials laundering money in the US by 
heightening its scrutiny of false currency declarations 
(CMRIs) emanating from the Philippines.  DHS/ICE Manila is 
working with its headquarters to ensure that it is promptly 
advised of every such CMRI violation.  If, after further 
inquiry, DHS/ICE Manila has reason to believe that the 
improperly declared funds constitute ill-gotten gains of 
corrupt GRP officials, it will open a criminal investigation, 
in possible coordination with the GRP Ombudsman.  In 
addition, DHS/ICE Manila is exploring the feasibility of 
establishing a system whereby it would be notified anytime a 
Filipino, or someone whose point of embarkation was the 
Philippines, comes into the US with $50,000 or more in cash, 
irrespective of whether the money was properly declared. 
(Note:  In addition to the improperly declared funds Garcia 
brought into the US, he also, through his wife and sons, 
brought in large sums of properly declared currency.  Had 
DHS/ICE Manila been aware of this fact earlier, it might have 
been able to uncover his illegal activity even in the absence 
of the fortuitous discovery of the undeclared monies.  End 
Note.)  As with false CMRIs, DHS/ICE Manila would then 
determine whether the monies likely constitute unexplained 
wealth warranting a criminal investigation.  However, 
targeting CMRIs in this fashion would require programming 
changes in the national database that houses CMRI 
information, requiring additional budgetary resources. 
 
--- 
DOJ 
--- 
 
4.  (SBU)  In the Garcia case, the DOJ Attache coordinated 
the efforts of US law enforcement agencies within the 
Embassy, with prosecutors in San Francisco and in New York, 
and with DHS/ICE to ensure the seizure of Garcia's US assets. 
 In addition, the DOJ Attache is assisting the GRP prepare 
more effective Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) requests 
relating to pending corruption cases and coordinating with 
stateside DOJ colleagues to ensure prompt action on such 
requests.  As part of this effort, he arranged for a 
representative from the DOJ's Office of International Affairs 
to come to the Philippines to conduct a week-long seminar for 
the Ombudsman's office, AMLC, and the Solicitor General's 
office on how to draft more effective MLATs.  He has also 
played a supportive role in the GRP's prosecution of former 
President Estrada for "plunder" by preparing briefs and 
arguing in the Federal District Court in Nevada for the 
extradition of Estrada co-defendant Charlie Atong Ang.  The 
decision by the US District Court to allow Ang's extradition 
to the Philippines, as well as the opinion of the court that 
certain testimony against the former president is credible, 
have bolstered the GRP's case against Estrada. 
 
-------- 
Consular 
-------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  Visa Applications:  We are exploring ways to 
utilize the financial information provided to the Consular 
Section in the visa application process, including sharing 
such information with GRP law enforcement agencies such as 
the Ombudsman's office, to help the Philippines in its 
anti-corruption efforts.  (Note: INA Section 222(f) provides 
for the confidentiality of visa records but allows sharing of 
information for law enforcement purposes. End Note.)  The 
ACWG (see para 7) is also working to identify those GRP 
officials about whom suspicion of corruption is sufficient to 
warrant adding their names to Consular's CLASS lookout 
system. 
 
6. (SBU)  Visa Denials:  Under Presidential Proclamation No. 
7750, Embassy is working with CA to test the limits of the 
use of 212(f).  We have requested an advisory opinion on one 
visa applicant, an AFP colonel, and the ACWG will work with 
the Consular Section to put forth additional candidates.  In 
addition, we continue to use the more traditional bases for 
visa denial in the anti-corruption campaign.  In the case of 
General Garcia, the Consular Section revoked his visa under 
Section 214(b) of the INA, on the grounds he was unlikely to 
return to the Philippines for fear of prosecution locally. 
We will also look to deny visas to suspected corrupt GRP 
officials, where appropriate, under Section 212(a)(2), which 
makes ineligible those convicted of or who admit to Crimes of 
Moral Turpitude. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Embassy's Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
7.  (SBU)  In November 2004, Embassy formed the ACWG, a 
sub-group of the Embassy-wide Law Enforcement Working Group 
(LEWG).  DOJ chairs the ACWG, which also includes FBI, 
DHS/ICE, CON, USAID, POL, and ECON.  The ACWG provides an 
interagency mechanism to identify candidates for FBI or 
DHS/ICE corruption investigations.  In one case involving a 
high-ranking GRP politician who may have laundered money in 
the US, the FBI's review of the evidence uncovered activity 
that may lead to a US grand jury investigation.  The ACWG has 
also created a central database, maintained by the Consular 
Section's Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU), and established 
collection procedures for all corruption-related information 
encountered by Embassy officials, regardless of their section 
or agency.  The ACWG has encouraged all sections/agencies 
within the Embassy to report information on possible 
corruption to the ACWG, which can sift and compare it with 
other corroborating evidence to determine whether to open a 
case and/or whether to relay such information to the GRP's 
Office of the Ombudsman. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Bilateral Anti-Corruption Working Group 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (SBU)  Mission established a joint US-RP anti-corruption 
working group (US-RP ACWG) in January.  To date, the GRP has 
been represented by the Ombudsman, Simeon Marcelo, and the 
AMLC head, Vic Aquino.  Presidential Legal Counsel Mercedes 
Gutierrez will join the working group.  We have included 
multiple GRP agencies to increase transparency, and improve 
the likelihood the GRP will take action on any corruption 
evidence we provide.  At the first US-RP ACWG meeting in 
January, we underscored the Mission's desire to assist 
wherever possible and to press forward on certain important 
corruption cases such as the Garcia case.  The Ombudsman 
reported that he had recommended to the Supreme Court that 
the Sandiganbayan (the special court handling all corruption 
cases) begin trying, on a contiguous basis, 40 priority cases 
(as opposed to the 2,000 cases the court is currently 
handling on a non-contiguous basis). 
 
--------------------------- 
US Treasury Advisor at AMLC 
--------------------------- 
 
9.  (SBU)  The Mission has also approved the establishment of 
an NSDD-38 position for a US Treasury Law Enforcement Advisor 
position at the AMLC for a two year period.  The first 
Advisor is working directly with AMLC to ensure a prompt and 
thorough response to MLAT requests from the US, including 
those MLAT requests relating to ongoing corruption 
investigations by US law enforcement agencies.  This new 
position will also help ensure long-term cooperation and a 
steady exchange of expertise on anti-money laundering 
technologies and innovations. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Manila Airport: Currency Declaration 
------------------------------------ 
 
10.  (SBU)  In response to input from the Embassy, GRP 
authorities have posted signs at Manila's Ninoy Aquino 
International Airport indicating that anyone carrying over 
$10,000 out of the country must declare it.  More vigorous 
implementation by GRP enforcement agencies of their own laws 
on currency declaration should lead to the collection and 
sharing of more corruption-related data. 
 
---------------------------- 
Millennium Challenge Account 
---------------------------- 
 
11.  (SBU)  The GRP's candidacy as a Millennium Challenge 
Threshold Country offers important new opportunities for USG 
resources aimed at complementing GRP programs to fight 
corruption, a key barrier to fiscal reform.  The initial 
draft of the GRP's MCC concept paper proposed programs aimed 
at bolstering the Ombudsman's anti-corruption capacity, and 
introducing reforms within the Bureau of Internal Revenue. 
BELLARD