Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales asked the Sandiganbayan Second Division to defer further action on the plea bargain agreement between resigned Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez and former military comptroller Carlos F. Garcia.

Morales said the court should give her time to thoroughly review the plunder and money laundering charges against Garcia, his wife Clarita and sons Ian Carl, Juan Paulo and Timothy Mark.

She appealed to the court to give her 15 days to go over documents pertaining to the case. She described the plea bargain deal as “complex or double-edged.”

“One of the challenging issues in the present case is the propriety or legality of the issue of the forging of the Plea Bargaining Agreement between the prosecution and the accused,” the Ombudsman said in her four-page motion.

Garcia was accused of amassing P303 million ill-gotten wealth while in active military service. The plea bargain agreement allowed the former military officer and his family to evade prosecution for plunder and money laundering by letting him plead guilty to lesser offenses of direct bribery and facilitating money laundering.

Under the agreement, Garcia also surrendered P135 million assets including P52.51 million cash from various bank deposits; P21.27 million worth of real estate properties located in the country and the P43.15 million Trump condominium in New York, USA; seven motor vehicles with a total assessed value of P4.42 million; proceeds of two bank accounts in the US totaling P13.85 million.

The former comptroller was released on December 18, 2010 after being allowed by the court to post P60,000 bail bond.