Sandiganbayan affirms Napoles’ conviction for plunder
Credit to Author: kadraneda| Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2019 05:04:39 +0000
MANILA, Philippines — The conviction of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles has been affirmed by the Sandiganbayan First Division.
In a nine-page resolution dated March 13, the anti-graft court “vigorously opposed” Napoles’ motion for reconsideration on the guilty verdict handed to her last December 2018 for plunder charges.
Napoles was found guilty while co-accused former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla was acquitted. Revilla’s aide, lawyer Richard Cambe, was also found guilty.
Revilla allegedly misused public funds when he allocated P224 million of his Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) to bogus non-government organizations owned by Napoles.
READ: Bong Revilla acquitted of plunder
In a decision penned by Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Geraldine Econg, the anti-graft court said: “For failure of the prosecution to establish beyond reasonable doubt that accused Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. received, directly or indirectly, the rebates, commission, and kickbacks from his PDAF, the Court cannot hold him liable for the crime of plunder. Accordingly he is acquitted.” /kga