Benhur Luy admits he wanted to compete with Napoles

Benhur Luy, primary whistleblower in the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, on Wednesday admitted in open court that at one point, he wanted to leave businesswoman and alleged mastermind Janet Lim Napoles’ employ to start his own “networking” business.

During cross-examination in the bail proceedings to determine if Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and his senior staffer Richard Cambe will be allowed provisional liberty, Cambe’s lawyer Remigio Michael Ancheta asked Luy to confirm portions of his sworn statement that showed he wanted to set up a simillar scheme as his former boss.

Revilla and Cambe face plunder and graft charges for allegedly colluding to funnel public funds to Napoles’ bogus NGO’s.

“You said, in your sworn statement that ‘natakot ako at gusto ko nang umalis. Nagbalak akong magtayo ng networking na business na katulad ng kanila [Napoles,]’ is that right?” Ancheta asked in open court, to which Benhur replied in the affirmative.

Luy tried to explain that he had no intention of replicating the illegal portions of Napoles’ bogus NGO scheme, but Ancheta cut him off, saying his question was answerable by a mere yes or no.

In an interview following the hearing, Ancheta explained that he brought up Luy’s sworn affidavit to prove that he is not a credible witness, and that he could have been coached.

“It’s in his affidavit. Obviously in his March 23 affidavit, which he executed a day after he was rescued, he admitted that he was allegedly detained because he wanted to put up a similar business and network, and the prosecution omitted that affidavit. So we brought that up, confronted him, and asked him to confirm that he wanted to compete [with Napoles,]” Ancheta said, adding that it appears Luy and the other whistleblowers are the ones who masterminded the scheme.

“They are the ones who actually run the show. Ang point namin dito is walang kinalaman si Richard Cambe. [Benhur’s] signatures appeared in the MOAs [with the implementing agencies]. He was there, either as a signatory, party or witness, but he could not categorically say if Richard Cambe signed those MOAs. And he even admitted that the notaries did not sign those MOAs. The only authentic signature there is Benhur Luy’s,” Ancheta said.

Ancheta added that the date of filing of the affidavit is suspect, saying Luy had many people around him who could have influenced the sworn statement.

“Unang-una, these are not business records that were allegedly prepared while he was allegedly in the employ of Mrs.Napoles. Ito ay nagawa after the alleged conspiracy happened, plus he obviously had the assistance of so many people,” Ancheta said. — BM, GMA News