Gov’t goes after Janet’s offshore accounts

MANILA, Philippines - The government is set to run after the overseas assets of Janet Lim-Napoles, the businesswoman at the center of the pork barrel scam.

Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) executive director Julia Bacay Abad said they have started coordinating with foreign law enforcement agencies and their counterparts abroad to identify the bank accounts and transactions of Napoles.

Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has gathered documents and affidavits of whistle-blowers showing Napoles and her family have properties and bank accounts in the United States.

“Our next target is to run after those assets. We are
availing of existing mechanisms,” De Lima said.

Abad, on the other hand, added that they could start looking into accounts of some lawmakers mentioned in the joint Ombudsman-DOJ-NBI probe but only if there is evidence to show that they were involved in “any unlawful activity.”

“We have asked the assistance of our counterparts and of foreign law enforcement agencies – just like in our other cases, we make it a point to do that because there’s always a possibility that transactions are being made outside the Philippines so there’s really a need for international cooperation,” Abad told the budget hearing at the Senate yesterday.

Abad said AMLC has identified about 400 bank accounts involving Napoles and her associates, 100 of which belong to Napoles herself.

Abad said they are tracing all the accounts, including those in the US.

She said there was basis to freeze the accounts when the AMLC filed a petition.

“If there’s a determination that the subject bank accounts are related to money laundering activities, then any account related to it should be included in the petition and frozen as well,” Abad explained.

The Court of Appeals (CA) ordered the freezing of over 400 bank accounts related to Napoles, including 107 said to be her personal accounts, following the petition filed by the AMLC.

The whistleblowers under protection of the NBI have reportedly disclosed that Napoles and her children have offshore accounts, including a bank account of her daughter, Jo Christine at Wells Fargo in Irvine, California.

Documents also showed Napoles’ fugitive brother Reynald Lim had an account at the Bank of America in San Diego, California, while Jose Lim has one at Wells Fargo in Pasadena, California.

Another account at Wells Fargo in Orange County allegedly belongs to Western Investment Corp., a company said to be owned by the Napoles family.

The witnesses – mostly former employees of Napoles – claimed the money in those accounts were used by the Napoleses to purchase a hotel in California worth $7 million and a $2-million unit at the Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles.

They have submitted affidavits detailing how the pork barrel funds of lawmakers, allegedly amassed through Napoles’ bogus non-government organizations, ended up in those offshore accounts.

De Lima, meanwhile, said the NBI would allow the whistleblowers to attend the Senate investigation on the controversy.

“There is standing invitation, and maybe they can attend in subsequent hearings. But I prefer that while the cases have not yet been filed, they don’t appear because there are risks,” she said.

“I truly believe that if people really listened to Benhur (Luy) and the other key whistleblowers like Mrs. (Merlina) Suñas, his credibility would be enhanced, people would be able to see and think that he is telling the truth,” De Lima added.

De Lima also lamented media’s reporting on evidence and testimonies of the witnesses, which she believed could jeopardize the prosecution of the upcoming cases.

“We don’t want to disclose details of testimonial or documentary evidence we have, because that would preempt or telegraph the punches of the prosecution and allow the respondents to prepare for their defense,” she explained.

De Lima said she would discuss this matter with the whistleblowers and their lawyers and ask them to refrain from further talking to the media.

The police, on the other hand, said they are leaving it up to the courts to decide on the request of the camp of Napoles to allow her to have an assistant inside her detention cell at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac said they will abide by the ruling of the court on the issue.

“It’s up to the court and we will implement whatever the decision from the court,” he said. –Cecille Suerte Felipe