Expert puts undeclared assets at P1.5B
The prosecution’s financial expert in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday raised his estimate of her and her husband’s alleged unexplained wealth to nearly P1.5 billion, while admitting that his report did not conclusively establish the legal basis for attributing income from companies linked to the couple.
Lawyer-accountant Alexander Cabrera, chairman emeritus of Isla Lipana & Co. (PwC Philippines), gave the higher estimate during questioning by Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who asked him to calculate the maximum amount based on financial records covering 2022 to 2025.
“About P1.5 billion in unexplained wealth,” Cabrera said, adding that the amount could be less than P1.6 billion.
His original estimate of P817.87 million, presented on 9 October, covered allegedly undeclared assets and income attributed to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio.
Cabrera said the higher figure would result from applying less conservative assumptions to certain findings, including transactions flagged by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and undeclared corporate income attributed to the couple. He added that confidential funds were excluded from his computation.
Corporate veil questioned
Much of Escudero’s questioning focused on Cabrera’s use of the doctrine of piercing the corporate veil to attribute financial activities of GenCorp Industries Inc., Metro City Chow Foods Corp. and Cale88 Foods Corp. to Duterte and Carpio.
The doctrine allows courts, under specific circumstances, to disregard a corporation’s separate legal personality, including when its structure is used to commit fraud or conceal wrongdoing.
But under separate questioning by Sen. Risa Hontiveros during the 38th hearing, Cabrera acknowledged that his report did not conclusively establish the doctrine’s application.
“My report is not conclusive on piercing the corporate veil,” he said.
The admission came as Hontiveros questioned why corporate income was included in the couple’s alleged unexplained wealth despite corporations having legal identities separate from their shareholders.
Cabrera cited discrepancies between corporate bank inflows and financial records, reporting average annual understatement measures of 87 percent for GenCorp, 69 percent for Metro City Chow and more than 50 percent for Cale88.
He previously testified that GenCorp had more than P1 billion in allegedly undeclared inflows and attributed a 20-percent economic interest in its undeclared income to Duterte, citing her interest in Metro City Chow and what he described as her significant influence over GenCorp.
Escudero also asked about P35 million in capital contribution that Cabrera attributed to Duterte, clarifying that the amount represented capital he considered continuously undeclared, not a fresh contribution for every year covered.
P463M remains without corporate figures
Escudero examined how much of Cabrera’s original P817.87-million estimate would remain if the corporate components were removed.
He put the GenCorp component at about P212.63 million, or 25.9 percent of the total, while amounts attributed to Metro City Chow and Cale88 reached about P142.2 million, or 17.3 percent.
Removing those components would leave approximately P463 million from other items in the computation, including amounts involving bank accounts and insurance policies.
Cabrera said using less conservative assumptions for the AMLC figures could add about P100 million to the estimate. Applying a higher assumed share in GenCorp and accounting for undeclared sales could add roughly P250 million.
Asked whether taxes and other liabilities should be deducted, Cabrera agreed that these must be considered in determining the appropriate amount.
The questioning highlighted unresolved issues surrounding both the computation and the legal basis for attributing corporate income to the couple. Cabrera’s estimates remain allegations subject to scrutiny by the impeachment court and are not final findings of unexplained wealth.