MANILA, Philippines - Fugitive businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles will no longer have access to part or all of her wealth, with the Court of Appeals (CA)’s order freezing her and her family’s bank accounts for six month, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced last night.
The Department of Foreign Affairs also canceled Napoles’ passport and put her and her brother Reynaldo Lim on its lookout list.
In issuing the freeze order, the CA granted a petition filed early this week by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) for the freezing of numerous bank accounts of Napoles and her JLN companies.
The freeze order – contained in a 36-page resolution – covered the bank accounts, deposits and investments of Napoles’ children, brother Reynaldo Lim, and other relatives.
The order also covered the bank accounts of Benhur Luy, her former employee who had squealed on her alleged role in the P10-billion pork barrel scam.
Also covered by the freeze were the bank accounts of Luy’s parents Arthur and Gertrudes as well as of the other whistleblower, Merlina Suñas.
The accounts of Napoles’ 28 firms and foundations were also included in the freeze order.
The order included 107 personal bank accounts of Napoles, including her Metrobank Account No. 073-3-07352390-8, in which several fake non-government organizations deposited some P53 million in funds allegedly from pork barrel of lawmakers and government agencies.
The resolution was signed by Associate Justice Manuel Barrios with Associate Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Normandie Pizzaro concurring.
The extent of her wealth came to light amid the controversy over the alleged misuse of pork barrel funds by some lawmakers in connivance with the fugitive businesswoman.
Pork barrel is officially called priority development assistance fund or PDAF.
Napoles and her brother went into hiding after warrants for their arrest were issued Wednesday by a Makati City court for an illegal detention case filed by Luy.
Authorities declined to give details of the bank accounts, citing the confidentiality rule for AMLC cases.
Officials also believe releasing more information to the public might prompt Napoles to close the accounts.
Earlier, authorities admitted that with Napoles’ “resources and connections,†arresting her would be very difficult.
Napoles reportedly owns 28 real estate properties and 30 vehicles, including expensive BMW, Porsche and Hummer.
At Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte called on Napoles and her brother to surrender.
“The President has a favorite statement, that if you have nothing to hide then, you have nothing to fear,†she said.
Valte also said De Lima’s call on the public to carry out a “citizen’s arrest†of Napoles was more of an appeal to ordinary people for help in arresting the businesswoman and her brother.
“We understand that an ordinary citizen would be reluctant to effect a citizen’s arrest. It’s not uncommon in other countries but, here in the Philippines, it’s very uncommon,†Valte said.
Stop arrest
Napoles’ lawyers, meanwhile, have asked the CA to recall her indictment as well as the warrant for her arrest.
They filed a 64-page petition for certiorari with the appellate court questioning the indictment of Napoles by the Department of Justice and the arrest warrant issued by Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Elmo Alameda.
In their petition, Napoles’ lawyers asked the CA to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop her arrest.
Napoles’ camp also asked the appellate court to nullify the DOJ resolution last Aug. 6 approving her indictment, saying it was “issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.â€
Named respondents in Napoles’ petition were Alameda, De Lima, Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva and National Bureau of Investigation chief Nonnatus Rojas.
“(DOJ) ignored petitioner Janet’s overwhelming evidence showing that no serious illegal detention of Benhur was committed at Bahay ni San Jose or anywhere else,†her petition read.
“Instead, (public respondents from DOJ) suspiciously reversed their own earlier findings to rule that there was probable cause to charge petitioner Janet and Reynald with serious illegal detention,†it added.
In the same petition, Napoles claimed that the serious illegal detention charge was “biased and baseless†and “crafted to cover the seeming lack of evidentiary support to roll the wheels of prosecution against those suspected of being involved in the controversial PDAF scam.â€
Napoles’ lawyers also said “there is absolutely no evidence†to prove her involvement in the anomalous use of Malampaya, PDAF, and fertilizer funds.
Asked for reaction to Napoles’ legal move, De Lima said the fugitive businesswoman’s CA petition was premature.
“Any remedy that they would want to seek or avail of should first be addressed to the very court that issued the warrant. They cannot just proceed directly to the Court of Appeals. I think that should be dismissed outright for being premature,†she told reporters.
Hunt continues
De Lima also said there is no breakthrough yet in the hunt for Napoles and Lim even as the Philippine National Police said it is ready to help the NBI locate and arrest her.
De Lima said the absence of leads on Napoles’ whereabouts suggests that she is being aided by powerful personalities. “The NBI told me it would be best to wait first for 24 to 48 hours before we decide to implement (reward),†she added.
Director Francisco Uyami, chief of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), said he has created 12 tracker teams to locate Napoles and Lim.
The CIDG chief also warned his men against accepting bribes from Napoles or her supporters.
“We are calling on the public to help authorities locate Napoles and her brother to face the charges,†he said, echoing an appeal from De Lima.
But instead of citizen’s arrest, he advised anyone who runs into Napoles to just report her whereabouts to authorities and let the police make the arrest.
“If she has armed bodyguards, ordinary citizen can’t just arrest her right then and there. It might be dangerous, it is prudent to just give us the information of the location of the two fugitives,†he said.
NBI spokesman Cecilio Zamora Jr. said numerous prank calls were draining their resources.
The Philippine Coast Guard is also on alert to prevent Napoles and Lim from fleeing the country.
“The PCG issued a directive to all districts and stations all over the Philippines to be on the lookout for Napoles and Lim. Once they are spotted they should be arrested because they might use the ports. We are in coordination with the NBI and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) when it comes to this issue,†PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said.
The same alert is up at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, immigration officers said.
“We have a standing order to turn over Napoles to NBI and to the PNP if ever she attempts to leave the country using airports,†Immigration Airport Operations Division chief Marie Vitan told The STAR.
Vitan said more photographs of Napoles should be posted at immigration counters at the airports.
Immigration senior supervisor Mario de Vega said smaller airports in the provinces should be on alert for the possible escape of Napoles and Lim.
Navotas City Rep. Tobias Tiangco, for his part, said offering reward to informants will greatly help in the search for Napoles and her brother.
“If the authorities are really serious in causing the arrest of Napoles and Lim, they should not just be releasing plate numbers and the numbers of the DOJ hotline. They should offer a reward to those who can give any information on Ms. Napoles’ and Mr. Lim’s whereabouts,†Tiangco said.
“How about adding peso signs to those hotline numbers and plate numbers? Let us not endanger our citizenry by having them arrest possibly dangerous fugitives, if the authorities are serious, offer reward for information, or is this investigation merely a moro-moro?†he said.
†With Eva Visperas, Rudy Santos, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero, Aie Balagtas-See, Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe