Comelec chief eyes US help on 'offshore accounts' probe

MANILA – Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Erwin Garcia said he would seek the help of the United States (US) Department of Justice (DOJ) in identifying those behind his alleged offshore bank accounts.

Garcia said he will course his request through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

"Tayo naman may mahigpit na ugnayan sa US DOJ. Tayo naman ay hihingi din ng tulong sa kanila upang ito ay maibestigahan. Konektado po ito e. Sa identity theft and bank fraud, napakahigpit ng America sa bagay na yan (We have strong ties with the US DOJ. We will ask help from them for these to be investigated. I think these are connected. The US is very strict when it comes to identity theft and fraud)," he said in an online interview on Monday.

For the meantime, Garcia said he would maintain indirect contact with the US DOJ to informally start the investigation.

“Dadaan at dadaan naman lahat sa DFA dahil ito ang level ng tamang ahensiya para sa request natin (This will still go through the DFA because it is the right agency for our request),”he said.

“At this point, para lang walang evidence na ma-itago or erase agad at upang ma-preserve ang evidence na pwede magamit (this is only for the purpose of ensuring that no evidence would be hidden or all pieces of evidence can be preserved so these can be used) in the future.”

Garcia particularly wants to find out who is behind the firm Jaleo Consulting LLC, which deposited USD100 each to the Cayman National Bank and New York Bank accounts, which are supposedly under his name.

“Pinalabas na akin ‘’yun. Dahil binanggit kumpletong account numbers, madaling makita. Sana nga sa pamamagitan ng tulong ng US DOJ at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno malaman sino may-ari ng dalawang accounts na ‘yan (They made it appear that they are mine. They mentioned complete account numbers and it was easily seen. I hope through the help of the US DOJ and other government agencies, the owner of these two accounts would be revealed),” he said.

Earlier, Sagip Party-list Rep. Dante Marcoleta claimed the offshore accounts are under the name George Erwin Mojica Garcia.

The Comelec chair refused to comment on former Biliran congressman Glenn Chong’s allegations that it is Smartmatic International who is behind the black propaganda against him.

Chong previously said Smartmatic is masterminding the demolition job after the poll body disqualified it from the bidding for the 2025 midterm elections. (PNA)