THE Office of the Ombudsman is pursuing with renewed vigor the criminal charges for perjury initiated seven years ago by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman against retired Colonel George Rabusa before the Quezon City court.

The case was originally filed by the Military and Other Law Enforcement Offices (MOLEO) before Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 38, Executive Judge Nadine Jessica Corazon Fama and had been languishing before newly-appointed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales took over the graft-buster’s office.

The Quezon City MTC has frontloaded the Rabusa case in its court agenda and started hearing the case yesterday.

In Criminal Cases 129841, 129842 and 129843, Rabusa was charged with making untruthful statements under oath in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN for the years 2002 and 2003 Rabusa, the Ombudsman reiterated, misrepresented the full extent of his and his wife’s properties, business interests and financial connections.

The case had been filed by Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer Joyce Martinez-Barut on December 1, 2004, after the Ombudsman found that Rabusa misdeclared his total personal properties as amounting to only P 2,775,379.49 and his net worth as amounting to only P7,184,689.

“In truth and in fact, he and his wife, Debbie Arevalo-Rabusa, had, by then, much more assets, net worth and business interests and financial connections,” the investigator said.

The Ombudsman, in a joint resolution also dated December 1, 2004 resolving the complaints filed by its Field Investigation Office, found that the Rabusas’ accumulated unexplained wealth was in the total amount of more than P 43,096,081.

These consist, among others, of a  house and lot at Lot 3, sub-block 7, Lot 89, Phase V, AFP Officers Village, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, where he spent  P5,500,000 for improvements; a house and lot at 115 Paradise St., Better  Living Subdivision, Don Bosco, Parañaque City, valued at P1,500,000 which was sold in 1998 for P2,800,000.

The Ombudsman also found that Rabusa possessed 11 vehicles of various makes; P1,000,000  worth of shares of the Arevalo, Rabusa, Templora, Inc. (ARTI) registered with the SEC on April 25, 2001.

Rabusa himself had a capital contribution/savings in the amount of P3,542,730.44 under the AFP Savings and Loans Association Inc.  (AFPSLAI) while his wife, Debbie, had an amount of P7 million under or a total of P10,542,730.

Rabusa and his wife maintained bank accounts with various financial institutions, i.e., 12 Security Bank Corporation accounts, one Land Bank account and two BPI accounts with total deposits at that time of P10 million.

Investigators also discovered that the  Rabusa couple had paid a premium of  US$132,485 for the insurance of their two daughters, Diana A. Rabusa and Dorothy Grace A. Rabusa, with the Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company and owned a house and lot in San Antonio Heights, Sto. Tomas, Batangas, registered in the name of his father-in-law Felix Arevalo.