MANILA - Whistle-blower Benhur Luy revealed Thursday how businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles allegedly got lawmakers to course their pork barrel funds to fake non-governmental organizations that she set up.
In his testimony before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing on the alleged P10 billion pork barrel scam, Luy said Napoles had so much cash that he and other JLN employees would sometimes place the cash on top of her bed and bathtub.
He also said JLN employees would sometimes switch cars after withdrawing the money from a government bank because of fear of being robbed.
"Once the check (from government) is cleared, we sometimes withdraw it cash or just transfer the funds to another account. If she needs money, we will reserve P75 million and bring it to the office. If she is not there, we will bring it her home," he told the Senate hearing.
He said his mother, who worked in Napoles' home, would receive the money and bring it to the master bedroom.
"Ilalagay po namin yung ilang bags sa bed niya, sometimes sa bathtub. Duon namin pinapatong patong. Nasa bag siya. Kung may kailangan siya, doon na lang kumukuha," he said.
He said sometimes the bags contained P30 million to P50 million. They also got boxes of cash from the LandBank or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
He said Napoles used the cash to sometimes buy properties.
Luy said Napoles sometimes had as much as P75 million in cash in her office in Discovery Suites.
How scam works
In his testimony, Luy said Napoles would call up senators and congressmen and discuss how much money the lawmakers will get from the pork barrel that will be used to fund the ghost projects.
"Let's say it's 50%. Ang nangyayari po ay - bibilin yung PDAF or lawmakers will call her or we will submit a listing and ask what type of projects they are interested in," he said.
He said he and other Napoles employees would check the menu issued by the Department of Budget and Management on what type of projects the lawmakers can fund using their pork barrel allocations.
Luy said the office would fax a draft letter indicating the proposed project and possible budget allocation to the chief of staff of a lawmaker. The legislator would then submit the letter either to the House of Representatives appropriations committee or directly to the
Senate President or Senate finance committee.
The committees will then submit the letters to the DBM, which issues a receiving copy to the lawmakers. The lawmakers then call Mrs. Napoles and fax the receiving copy of the draft letter to her office.
He said Napoles would always GIVE 50% of the lawmakers' cut of the pork barrel after receiving the DBM letter. She then releases the remaining 50% once the DBM releases the special allotment release order of the lawmakers.
Luy said Napoles always paid in cash or checks to the lawmakers since she had access to funds. He also noted that Napoles did not wait for the final SARO before paying the lawmakers.
"Liquid siya, may pera talaga siya. Other than the agency, she can get money from another agency, the [Department of Agrarian Reform]. We don't get the money from agency and then pay," he said.
Luy said the JLN Group also created draft letters endorsing the Napoles foundations that would receive pork barrel funds.
"These foundations are assigned by Mrs. Napoles. She controls everything. She designates which foundations will do what because may mga kausap siya sa implementing agencies na inaalam kung ito ay OK ba o accredited o minsan po kung hindi ito accredited ito yung bago," he said.
He also confirmed that officials of the implementing agencies sometimes got kickbacks from Napoles.
Luy said he was able to make backup copies of the JLN Group's financial records when the office decided to upgrade their computers.
Luy has accused Napoles of setting up fake NGOs to act as conduits of lawmakers' pork barrel funds in exchange for a cut of the funds. An estimated P10 billion in lawmakers' funds were reportedly misused in the scam and pocketed by Napoles and corrupt government officials.
The Supreme Court recently issued a temporary restraining order stopping the Department of Budget and Management from releasing the remaining priority development assistance funds of lawmakers for 2013.
