Philippines auctions off Rolls-Royce, Mercedes-Benz cars linked to graft scandal

[MANILA] The Philippines on Thursday (Nov 20) auctioned off seven luxury vehicles linked to the corruption scandal that rocked the nation, as the government pushes to recover stolen public funds.

Among the cars up for auction were a Bentley Bentayga, a Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and a Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG, according to the Bureau of Customs. The agency earlier seized allegedly smuggled vehicles from a contractor being investigated for involvement in the flood-control corruption scheme.

The auction, among the first moves to recover misappropriated funds from the scandal, is expected to yield a minimum of 110 million pesos (S$2.4 million) which will be remitted to the National Treasury, according to the customs agency.

“I know that’s not a big amount, but it’s important that we take the money back,” Customs chief Ariel Nepomuceno said in a livestreamed speech.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has pledged to recover stolen government funds, as his government contends with public anger over the scheme that pilfered billions of pesos for flood mitigation projects that allegedly ended up in politicians and contractors’ pockets. The scandal has slowed economic growth and soured investor sentiment on the South-east Asian nation. BLOOMBERG