(Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday, Aug. 2, welcomed the indictment of alleged pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim Napoles and five others by a United States federal jury for money laundering.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, the indictment for conspiracy to commit money laundering, domestic money laundering, and international money laundering of Napoles; her children Jo Christine, Jeane Catherine, James Christopher; brother Reynald Luy Lim, and his wife Ana Marie was a “positive development” as it “shows that there is reason to believe that they attempted to retain the ill-gotten gains from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.”
“With the help of US authorities, who have been in continuous coordination with our government, the funds that Mrs. Napoles and her co-defendants attempted to hide away will soon be returned for the benefit of the Filipino people,” he said.
He added that 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.”
In a statement, the US justice department said Napoles and some 20 Filipino government officials diverted Philippine government funds, including their PDAF or pork barrel, to her bogus non-government organizations.
It said around $20 million was wired to Southern California bank accounts, “to purchase real estate, shares in two businesses, two Porsche Boxsters, and finance the living expenses of three family members residing in the United States: Jeane Napoles, Reynald Lim, and Ana Lim.”
“If the court orders the assets forfeited, the United States will work with Philippine officials in an attempt to return the stolen funds back to the Philippine government,” the statement said.
Napoles, who is detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, is facing separate plunder and graft cases before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the pork barrel scam.