‘Pork’ kickbacks wired to Napoles’ US account
PUBLIC funds were laundered by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles’ to her United States account, the star witness in the pork barrel scam told the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court on Thursday.
Benhur Luy took the stand during the trial of the graft charges filed against former senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. in connection with the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) or pork barrel scam.
Napoles is among Revilla’s co-accused. She is also one of the accused in the separate P224-million plunder case filed against the former lawmaker also in connection with the PDAF scam.
“We sent the money to her US account through telegraphic transfer,” Luy told the Sandiganbayan’s First Division.
The PDAF scam, allegedly masterminded by Napoles, grabbed headlines anew on Thursday after a US federal grand jury indicted the businesswoman and her family members on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) for money laundering.
Charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, domestic money laundering and international money laundering were filed against Napoles and her children Jo Christine, James Christopher and Jeane Catherine.
Also charged were Napoles’ brother Reynald Luy Lim and his wife Ana Marie Lim.
The US charges that were filed were based on events from September 2012 through August 2014, involving the PDAF transactions.
Approximately $20 million from the converted PDAF funds were diverted to money remitters in the Philippines and then wired to Southern California bank accounts, the US Department of Justice said.
The money was used to buy real estate, shares in two businesses and two Porsche Boxsters, and to finance the living expenses of Jeane, Reynald, and Ana in the US.
Court documents also showed that approximately $12.5 million in Southern California real estate was seized by the United States Attorney’s Office and now subject to a civil forfeiture case.
Extradition eyed
The Philippine Department of Justice (DoJ) said it could extradite the kin of Napoles who had been indicted for conspiring to illegally transmit government funds worth $20 million to the US, as long they were not facing cases in the Philippines.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he had ordered the Bureau of Immigration to find out whether Napoles’ kin are still in the Philippines.
“Those (indicted Napoles kin) who are here and not facing charges in Philippine courts may be the subject of a request for extradition; those who are in the US may be immediately arrested,” the DoJ chief said in a text message.
Guevarra said the Philippine government would give legal assistance to US counterparts in case extradition was needed.
He pointed out however that all criminal cases in the Philippines must be settled first before Napoles herself could be extradited to the US.
“Although we cannot extradite Napoles until her cases in Philippine courts have been terminated, the DoJ will extend all assistance to its US counterpart in prosecuting the money-laundering cases, and in ensuring the people’s money is returned in due time to our national treasury,” he said.
The DoJ is awaiting the copy of the formal indictment from its American counterpart.
“From what I know, there is a separate case for civil forfeiture in the US that will trigger the return of the laundered money to the Philippines. However, that forfeiture case will have to await the outcome of the money-laundering and other fraud cases against Napoles and her family,” he said.
The US must file a formal request for the Philippine justice department to commence extradition proceedings and it will be heard before a regional trial court, which shall determine if the case is extraditable or not.
Malacañang said the indictment of the Napoleses was a positive development, “as it bolsters the government’s case against her before the Sandiganbayan.”
It said all those involved in the PDAF scam should be charged.
“As more of Mrs. Napoles’ schemes come to light, it becomes imperative to charge all those who illegally profited from her transactions, regardless of their position or political affiliation,” it added.
Napoles is detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City after a legal intervention of Solicitor General Jose Calida paved the way for her acquittal by the Court of Appeals in May 2017.
She spent two years at the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City following a guilty verdict by a Makati City judge for the serious illegal detention of her cousin Benhur Luy, the primary whistleblower in the scam.
Napoles has filed several petitions before the high court seeking to stop her indictment in the PDAF cases, but these were all junked.
She is facing plunder charges before the Sandiganbayan which also implicated former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.
‘2 kinds of justice’
In a statement, Liberal Party Vice President for External Affairs Erin Tañada described the indictment of Napoles and her kin as well as the Office of the President’s dismissal of Overall Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang as “a tale of two kinds of justice.”
“We call on the Department of Justice to expedite investigations on the pork barrel scam. We urge the Ombudsman to delve deeper into the dismissal of Deputy Ombudsman Arthur Carandang. Lastly, we call on our people to be vigilant in the face of selective justice,” he said.
Carandang’s dismissal for betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption stemmed from administrative complaints, which Commissioner Manuelito Luna of the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission and lawyer Eligio Mallari filed separately last year.
WITH JOMAR CANLAS
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