Sandiganbayan okays plea bargain deal

MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has approved today the plea bargain agreement between the Office of Ombudsman and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia.

In a resolution penned by Presiding Justice Edilberto Sandoval, the graft court disclosed that Garcia followed all the requisites in entering the plea bargain deal with the government.

The case stemmed from the plunder case filed by the government against Garcia, accusing him of amassing questionable wealth especially during his stint as the military’s budget officer.

The original complaint required Garcia of returning more than P300 million that he allegedly accumulated. The plea bargain deal only asked the former military budget officer to return P135 million.

The Sandiganbayan also denied the motion for intervention filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).