Imelda Marcos graft case dismissed by Supreme Court

The Philippine Supreme Court has dismissed a graft case against former first lady Imelda Marcos, court documents released on Wednesday showed.

The ruling, dated June 10, overturned a 2018 verdict by the anti-graft Sandiganbayan court that had ordered Marcos to serve at least six years in prison. The case concerned charges that the Marcoses funnelled about $200 million through Swiss foundations decades ago.

The Supreme Court said the relevant Swiss documents were not properly authenticated and that prosecutors failed to present a credible witness who could attest to the documents' genuineness and execution.

Marcos, 97, had appealed the 2018 verdict. She fled to the United States in 1986 with her husband, former president Ferdinand Marcos, after a popular uprising ended his 20-year rule. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in 1989, but his family later returned to the Philippines. Their son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., became president in 2022.

The Supreme Court has overturned a graft conviction against Imelda Marcos before. In 1993, it set aside a 24-year prison sentence, and she later won a seat in Congress while her appeal was underway.