Sara Duterte’s unexplained wealth could reach P1.5 billion, analyst says

Vice President Sara Duterte’s unexplained wealth could reach nearly P1.5 billion under a less conservative computation, forensic financial analyst Alexander Cabrera told the Senate impeachment court on Monday, raising his earlier estimate of P817.87 million.

Cabrera gave the higher-end estimate during questioning by Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who asked the prosecution witness to calculate the maximum amount based on the financial records he had reviewed for 2022 to 2025.

“Mga 1.5 po. Ang unexplained wealth po,” Cabrera said, estimating the total at about P1.5 billion, or less than P1.6 billion.

He explained that the higher estimate 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.

Cabrera stressed that his assessment was based on the documents available to his team. He also said he had excluded the couple’s confidential funds from his computation.

Cabrera’s original P817.87-million estimate, presented on 9 October, covered allegedly undeclared assets and income attributed to Duterte and Carpio over the four-year period. He had described the original methodology as conservative and designed to avoid double counting.

Escudero probes corporate computations

Much of Escudero’s questioning focused on Cabrera’s decision to attribute certain corporate amounts to Duterte and Carpio by applying the legal principle of piercing the corporate veil.

The doctrine allows courts, in circumstances recognized by law, to disregard a corporation’s separate legal personality, including when the corporate structure is used to commit fraud or conceal wrongdoing.

Escudero asked Cabrera whether fraud was the basis for treating the companies’ financial activities as attributable to their shareholders. Cabrera answered in the affirmative.

The presiding officer then scrutinized the analyst’s treatment of GenCorp Industries Inc., which operates five Jollibee franchise branches in Davao City. Citing Cabrera’s report, Escudero asked about the P35 million attributed to Duterte as an undeclared capital contribution.

“Yung P35 million po doon, yun po yung continuously undeclared po na attributed capital po namin. Attributed na capital contribution ni VP Sara po,” Cabrera explained.

Cabrera clarified that the amount represented capital he attributed to Duterte that remained undeclared, rather than a new P35-million contribution for each year covered by the report.

He added that, under his approach, once the corporate veil was pierced, the distinction between the company and its shareholders was no longer maintained for the transactions under examination.

P463 million remains without corporate figures

Escudero also tested how much of Cabrera’s original estimate would remain if the disputed corporate components were removed.

He calculated the GenCorp component at about P212.63 million, equivalent to 25.9% of the P817.87-million total.

The combined amounts attributed to Metro City Chow and Kali 88 came to about P142.2 million, or 17.3%, Escudero said.

Removing those components would leave approximately P463 million from the other items in Cabrera’s computation, including amounts based on bank accounts and insurance policies.

Taxes may reduce amount

Before ending the exchange, Escudero asked whether taxes that may be due on the amounts being examined should be deducted from the estimated wealth.

Cabrera said using a less conservative approach to the AMLC figures would add about P100 million. Applying a higher assumed share in GenCorp and accounting for the impact of undeclared sales could add roughly P250 million, he said.

Escudero then asked whether taxes and other liabilities that may be due should be deducted from the amount.

Cabrera agreed that liabilities should be considered in determining the appropriate total. “Opo, pero ang unexplained wealth po kasi kung may payable po, babawas din po natin. Kukumpitin po natin yung tax,” he told Escudero.