CA freezes accounts of Napoles, her family, and NGOs

(Updated 7:05 pm) The Court of Appeals (CA) has frozen the accounts of embattled businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, her family, and all non-government organizations connected to her and her business, JLN Corp.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, in a text message to reporters Friday, said the freeze order was requested by the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Office of the Solicitor General.

"Acting on the Petition filed by AMLC thru OSG, a Freeze Order was issued today by CA covering the accounts and related web of accounts of Janet Lim Napoles, family members, other relatives and staff, as well as those of the NGOs identified with JLN, effective for a period of 6 mos," De Lima said.

Napoles, in hiding after a Makati court issued an arrest warrant against her and her brother over a serious illegal detention case, is implicated in the P10-billion scam involving the pork barrel funds of several lawmakers.

She has denied the accusation, saying her riches came from her trading company and a legitimate coal business in Indonesia.

Records from the Securities and Exchange Commission show that JLN Corporation's assets soared to P92 million in 2012, more than three times the amount in previous years, according to a report from GMA News Research.

Another Napoles company, JCLN Global Properties Development Corporation, registered an even bigger spike with total declared assets amounting to P180.69 million last year, more than eight times the amount in the previous year.

'Clearly despotic'

Sought for comment, the lawyer of Napoles welcomed the assets freeze on the various NGOs being linked to the fugitive businesswoman.

"Maganda nga na ma-freeze ang sa NGOs, para lumabas ang mga tunay na may-ari niyang mga iyan at mapatunayan namin na hindi talaga iyan kay Mrs. Napoles," legal counsel Lorna Kapunan told GMA News Online.

However, she condemned the assets freeze on the bank accounts of Napoles, her family, and other relatives.

"This shows that Sec. De Lima has exceeded her bounds. This is clearly despotic! She should be giving us the benefit of the doubt," Kapunan said.

The lawyer insisted that the freeze on Mrs. Napoles' personal assets was tantamount to "confiscation of properties," saying none of her client's accounts is the subject of any ongoing government investigation.

Kapunan also lamented the lack of communication between government agencies and the Napoles camp.

"As usual in-anounce na naman niya sa media even before informing the counsels," Kapunan said.

Earlier, Kapunan complained that De Lima had announced the issuance of the warrant of arrest against her client to the media even before the lawyer found out about it.

"It's becoming clear, the pattern here. We were the last to know and this AMLC investigation, it's part of due process that concerned parties should be informed," she added. — KBK/YA, GMA News