MANILA, Philippines -The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed plunder charges against businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles as well as senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada before the Office of the Ombudsman.
The complaint filed on Monday around 3:45 p.m. was in connection with an alleged scheme where millions of lawmakers' Priority Development Assistance Funds or pork barrel were squandered through bogus non-government organizations supposedly masterminded by Napoles.
The voluminous amount of evidentiary documents were delivered by two closed vans escorted by the PNP Highway Patrol Group to Ombudsman's office along Agham Road in Quezon City.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima led the team of investigators and lawyers in filing the complaint. The 10 whistle-blowers in the scam including Benhur Luy also filed their sworn affidavits.
The charge sheet reportedly also bears names of at least 38 other people, while another batch of cases are yet to be filed against those identified as Napoles' cohorts, lawmakers "who knowingly transacted with her" and her fake NGOs, and some officials, De Lima had said.
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Janet Lim Napoles (left) poses for a mug shot after she
surrendered last August for a serious illegal detention charge. On Monday, the
National Bureau of Investigation filed a plunder case implicating Napoles and
three senators including Ramon "Bong" Revilla, Jr. (right) for their
alleged involvement in the misuse of public funds. AP, Sen. Revilla's
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The lawmakers have been said to have earned at least P50 million through commissions and cash advances.
De Lima said that the plunder case's respondents were identified through "sufficient evidence" and without a tinge of politics.
She earlier said that the delay in the case, which was earlier expected to already materialize a couple of weeks ago, was to ensure that the charges are "airtight and presentable."
Luy revealed last week that lawmakers would receive 50 percent in kickbacks from pork-funded ghost projects by Napoles.
Napoles herself would receive 40 percent of the share, while other assisting agencies would be awarded the rest of the money.
“There was no other mastermind. She was the mastermind because she was my boss,” Luy said, appearing before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee in a parallel investigation on the scam.
Last September 13, a public safety advocacy group also filed a plunder complaint against Napoles, Revilla, Enrile, Estrada as well as Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Gregorio Honasan before the Ombudsman.
