MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Ombudsman will ask the Sandiganbayan for the forfeiture of P29.2 million in alleged unexplained wealth from sacked Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima and his family.
In a consolidated resolution dated July 4, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales ordered forfeiture proceedings initiated against Purisima, his wife Ma. Ramona Lydia, and sons Rainier Van Albert, Eumir Von Andrei, Alan Jr. and Jason Arvi.
She also ordered the filing of a case for nine counts of perjury against Purisima for failing to disclose all his properties in his Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth from 2006 to 2014.
Morales earlier ordered Purisima dismissed from the service after finding him guilty of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and acquisition of unexplained wealth.
Records show Purisima received salaries, allowances and other benefits totaling P9,550,621.44 from 2000 to 2014 while his wife received gross total compensation and other income of P6,382,530.84 as an employee of the AFP Mutual Benefits Association Inc. for the same period, for combined earnings of P15,933,152.28.
Meanwhile, Purisima declared business interests and financial connections as a partner in RAS Construction from 2000-2006; I@Link Computer Center from 2002 to 2006 as proprietor; Aliakbar Hauling and Trucking Services from 2008 to 2014; and EALRAJ Corporation, a family-owned general merchandising corporation, from 2012 to 2014.
Ombudsman investigators placed Purisima’s net worth for 2014 at P16,762,948.85.
But the investigation and analysis by the Ombudsman indicated that Purisima and his family accumulated unexplained wealth totaling P29,292,459.92.
The probe found Purisima had other properties and business investments under his name or jointly or separately with his wife and sons, which he failed to declare in his SALN, among these real properties in Aulo, Palayan City; residential land in Zaragosa, Nueva Ecija; 11 parcels of land in Talisay, Batangas; land in San Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur; and firearms acquired from 2010 to 2014.
Records from the Bureau of Immigration also showed Purisima frequently traveling abroad – 12 official trips and seven “financed from personal funds” – from 2001 to 2014, while his wife went on 19 overseas trips, his son Rainier, 10, Eumir, four, Alan Jr., five, and Jayson, seven. These, said the Ombudsman, “show that they lived a lavish lifestyle which is not commensurate with their declared earnings and financial resources.”
In its consolidated resolution, the Ombudsman also said Purisima had made “wholesale amendments” to his annual income tax returns, paying a total of P5,087,314 in November 2014.
But Morales said “a closer scrutiny of … Purisima’s amended ITRs also reveals they are replete with badges of falsity and misdeclaration. The reported income from businesses is not supported by financial statements and taxes withheld and remitted by withholding agents.”
“The fact that he took so long to declare these other income casts doubt as to their existence” and indicated that the amendment “was a mere afterthought in response to the lifestyle check then being conducted” on him, she added.
The Ombudsman also said there is no proof Purisima’s sons could afford to acquire the properties registered in their names, thus these “may be added to the forfeitable assets by reason of unexplained wealth.”
