United States authorities have ordered the temporary release of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia's two sons who had been arrested for alleged bulk cash smuggling. 

ABS-CBN North America News Bureau's Bev Llorente reported that Judge Robert Johnston of the United States District Court Northern District of California ordered the temporary release of Ian Carl Depakakibo Garcia, one of the two sons of the former military comptroller held for allegedly smuggling $100,000 to the US.

Ian Carl, however, was ordered not to leave Nevada district and the state of California until March 5. His "blue" passport has also been withheld by Judge Johnston.

The release order was issued during a detention hearing and initial arraignment of Ian Carl's case on Saturday (Friday in California).

Meanwhile, Garcia's other son, Juan Paolo, was released in Detroit, Michigan, where he was held by US marshals for the same case.

The Garcia brothers were arrested last February 25 after an indictment by a federal grand jury in San Francisco.

The indictment, which was issued in December, charged the brothers with one count of conspiracy to commit bulk cash smuggling and one count of bulk cash smuggling.

The grand jury also charged Juan Paulo with one count of failing to file a report on the import of monetary instruments, and one count of making a false statement to a government agency.

Juan Paulo was arrested in Pontiac while Ian Carl was nabbed in Las Vegas.

Father guilty of perjury
 
The Sandiganbayan, the country's anti-graft court, on February 18 found the boys' father guilty of perjury for misdeclaration of his statements of assets and liabilities in 2000.

In its decision, the court's Fourth Division ordered Garcia jailed from one year and eight months to two years.

The former military comptroller has been acquitted of two counts of perjury by two other divisions of the anti-graft court. He is facing one more perjury case.

The Garcias, including the former military comptroller's wife and another son, are facing plunder cases at the Second Division for allegedly amassing P303.27 million ill-gotten wealth during his active military service.

The Philippine government has already sequestered P100-million worth of property of the former comptroller.

The string of cases filed against Garcia and his family started after one of his sons was arrested by the US customs at the San Francisco airport for failing to declare US$100,000 in Dec. 19, 2003.

The Ombudsman and the military started investigating Garcia's suspicious wealth in 2004.

In 2005, Garcia was convicted by a general court martial and ordered dismissed from the service. He was sentenced to two years of hard labor.

The former military comptroller is detained at the National Police's custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City. -- report from Bev Llorente, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau