Aquino Moves to Block Sale or Transfer of 3 N.J. Homes
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NEW YORK — Lawyers for the Philippine government Monday stepped up their campaign to recover former President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ purported U.S. properties by asking a New Jersey court to halt the sale or transfer of three homes in the state.
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Paul Levy signed a temporary restraining order in Trenton freezing any business dealings involving a six-bedroom house on a 13-acre estate near Princeton and a large house in Cherry Hill, a wealthy Philadelphia suburb. Levy did not act on the third home, also in Cherry Hill, since it was legally sold last October.
The government of Corazon Aquino contends that Marcos owns or has owned these properties and others through individual and corporate “nominees” and has attempted to sell them in recent months to disguise and disperse his assets, according to David Lerner, spokesman for the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, which is providing legal counsel here to the new Philippine government.
A New York state judge signed a similar order last week, freezing the sale or transfer of four buildings in Manhattan and a Long Island mansion and estate. The New York properties are worth more than $300 million.
In New Jersey, Marcos’ daughter, Imee, stayed at the 18th-Century Princeton home while she attended Princeton University in the 1970s, and his son, Ferdinand Jr., stayed at both Cherry Hill homes while a student at the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, according to legal papers filed by Bonifacio Gillego, a Philippine government representative.
The Cherry Hill homes were owned by Irwin P. Ver, the former commander of Marcos’ 15,000-member Presidential Guard Battalion, which protected Marcos and his family. Ver is the son of Gen. Fabian C. Ver, the former armed services chief of staff.
The Princeton property is owned by Faylin Limited Corp., which is registered in the British Virgin Islands and was identified in recent House subcommittee hearings as representing Marcos’ interests.
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