MANILA: A businesswoman earlier implicated in the P728m ($18m) fertiliser fund scam yesterday denied allegations that she illegally detained a possible witness in the corruption case.
Janet Napoles, owner of JLN Group of Companies who was dragged into the controversial graft case as one of the suppliers of fertilisers to the Department of Agriculture, said she and her brother Reynald Lim did not detain Benhur Luy, who was reportedly rescued by National Bureau of Investigation agents from her condominium unit last March 22.
Janet Napoles’ lawyer Jean-Paul Acut said the charges of illegal detention filed by Luy’s parents against his client were “false and untrue” since Luy stayed in her residence of his own free will. In fact, Luy stayed in Napoles’ place while on a four-month “spiritual retreat.”
“He stayed there of his own free will to atone for the wrongdoings he committed during his tenure at the JLN Group of Companies, for which he was investigated by management,” Acut told reporters at the Department of Justice in Manila. The lawyer also stressed that the case was a simple internal family problem.
The Philippine Star
