A federal judge who has been the subject of controversy in the past is the subject of a new legal challenge involving some $US35 million ($NZ61.45 million) tied to the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos.
An attorney who filed a notice of appeal in the case on Wednesday, confirmed that various claimants to the money are seeking an accounting from US District Judge Manuel Real on how the assets were managed while the case was wending its way through the courts, ultimately winding up at the US Supreme Court.
Attorney Charles A. Rothfeld of Washington, DC, who handled the high court case, said on Thursday that the appellants have asked Real for an accounting but were given a one-page document which is "incomprehensible and gives no idea of what happened to the money."
He said there is a reference to about $US5 million in disbursements but no explanation of what those may be.
Real, based in Los Angeles, was temporarily sitting at a federal court in Hawaii when he made decisions in the case and the funds were held by the court there during the litigation.
Without an accounting from Real, Rothfeld said it's impossible to ascertain whether the $US35 million was invested and has grown and if so, how much remains.
"We're entitled to know how the assets were managed while in the custody of the court," he said.
The fight over the funds stems from Marcos' transfer of $US2 million in 1972 to Arelma SA, a Panamanian shell corporation that invested the money with Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc in New York. By 2000, it had grown to $35 million.
A group of more than 9500 human rights victims and their heirs argued they should get the money as part of a $US2 billion judgment in US courts against the Marcos estate.
It was claimed by a number of entities including victims of Marcos' rule who were tortured or executed during the imposition of martial law in the Philippines from 1972 to 1986.
Real ruled that the victims should get the funds and was supported by a ruling in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. But the government of the Philippines also laid claim to the funds and appealed to the Supreme Court, which in 2008 agreed with their argument that the case should be decided in the Philippines before any decisions are made in US courts.
Rothfeld said all litigants agree that the money held by the court in Hawaii should be returned to Merrill Lynch. The question is how much money remains in the account, and only Real can provide an accounting of that.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that when called for comment, Real's clerk, William Horrell, stated that the judge "doesn't comment on things."
The 85-year-old Real was the subject of a reprimand from the 9th Circuit in 2006 for improperly seizing control of a bankruptcy case of a woman whose probation he was supervising.
A House Judiciary Subcommittee considered his impeachment but he survived the case. The 9th Circuit has removed at least eight cases from his court amid allegations of bias or misconduct.
