Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia said that bank transfers made to two offshore bank accounts linked to him were done by a public relations firm based in the United States.
In a Viber message to reporters, Garcia said a real account was recently opened in a New York bank under someone else’s name.
“What they did was to recently open a real account in a New York bank, then Jaleo Consulting, a PR firm, deposited US$100 in the account, then replaced the name of the owner with mine,” Garcia said.
In a press briefing on Thursday, Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta said volunteers in New York made bank transfers of $100 each to two offshore bank accounts allegedly owned by Garcia.
Marcoleta said the receipts from the Chase for Business bank indicated the offshore bank accounts were under the name “George Erwin Mojica Garcia.”
Garcia immediately disowned the offshore accounts. He said his camp used a made-up name, in this case “Batman,” to disprove Marcoleta’s accusation.
“We also sent money to the same account but we put in the name Batman. It was successful,” he said.
“They pretended that I’m a US citizen with a social security number so they could send money to the same account that is owned by someone else,” he added.
Garcia said they used a “Makati City, Kentucky” address.
The Comelec head earlier said he is willing to answer Marcoleta’s claims “face-to-face.”