MANILA: Five more witnesses in the $240m congressional fund scam attended yesterday the resumption of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing to corroborate the statement of whistle-blower Benhur Luy on the “web of fraud” perpetrated by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles through the years.
Marina Sula, 55, told the Senate committee that she played a key role in the creation of 19
non-government organisations (NGOs) or foundations used by Napoles in the scheme to siphon the congressional fund or the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of lawmakers to her personal bank accounts.
Sula revealed that Napoles had directed her to help in forming and providing documentation for the NGOs.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel III described Napoles’ scheme as a web of fraud as he noted how it spanned the siphoning of funds using some lawmakers’ allocations to the diversion of the Malampaya Fund via some local government units as implementing agencies and released through the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Apart from Sula, Luy’s mother Getrudes, Merlina Suñas, Arlene Baltazar and Monette Briones appeared before the committee two days after an irked Blue Ribbon chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona confronted Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for failing to bring the witnesses during the Senate hearing last Tuesday.
Luy’s mother, who worked as nanny of Napoles’ children for 22 years, said she witnessed millions of pesos in cash being brought to Napoles’ residence in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.
In some instances, the cash amounted to at least P30m, kept in Napoles’ bedroom.
Stacks of bills were also placed in her employer’s bathtub, she said.
Getrudes said she helped repack the cash to be given to Napoles’ contacts in government upon the latter’s instructions.
Sula, a former employee at the Philippine Navy Naval Construction Brigade, narrated how Napoles started her scheme at the Navy headquarters where the family-owned Jocris —named after Napoles’ daughter Jo Christine — Trading engaged in supplying vehicle parts to the military.
From vehicle parts, Napoles also went into supplying kevlar vests and helmets, which caused some legal issues that prompted the filing of charges before the Sandiganbayan. Owing to Napoles’ supposed influence in the Sandiganbayan, Sula said the case was dismissed in 2010.
After Suñas, Sula revealed that she was also privy to the details of the properties owned by Napoles and those placed under her foundations.
According to Sula, she personally took care of the requirements of the foundations such as the general information sheets, certificates of good standing and the documents that needed to be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to have these NGOs accredited.
The Philippine star
