Napoles camp questions credibility of NBI expert who examined Luy's hard drive

The camp of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles on Monday questioned the credibility of the National Bureau of Investigation official who examined the external hard drive of the pork barrel scam primary whistleblower Benhur Luy.

 

At the continuation of the hearing of the petition to post bail of Napoles and Sen. Jinggoy Estrada before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division, lawyer Dennis Buenaventura questioned the expertise and qualifications of NBI Cybercrime Division special investigator Dario Sabilano to conduct the forensic examination.

 

“Since when did you become an expert forensic computer examiner?,” Napoles’ lawyer asked while cross-examining Sabilano.

 

Sabilano admitted that while he was with the NBI since 2003, it was only in May 2014 when he was “extensively exposed” to computer forensic examinations when he was transferred to the Bureau’s Cybercrime Division.

 

“So you became an expert only after you were assigned at the Cybercrime Division? When did you consider yourself as an expert already?” Buenaventura clarified.

 

“Maybe after six months of continuously conducting computer forensic investigation [at the Cybercrime Division], so maybe around December [2014), sir,” Sabilano admitted.

 

He, however, added that while it was only last year that he joined the Cybercrime Division, he has already conducted around 100 forensic examinations since 2003 and 70 of them involved examinations of computer hard drives.

 

Sabilano said among the external hard drive forensic examinations he has conducted involved human trafficking cases and the murder of a journalist in Batangas.

 

Sabila said he was also part of the investigating team that successfully traced the persons behind the uploading of videos of the brutal killings of police commandos during the January 25 Mamasapano, Maguindanao incident.

 

Sabilano said he used the EnCase software for almost all of the 70 external hard drive investigations he has conducted before.

 

The EnCase was the same software used by Sabilano in the conduct of forensic examination on Luy’s hard drive.

 

Buenaventura, however, changed his line of questioning and asked Sabilano if he was also an expert in “hacking” computer files.

 

“Are you also at the same time a hacking expert, whether legally or illegally?” Buenaventura asked.

 

“Considering my training, yes, I can initiate a hacking activity,” Sabilano candidly admitted.

 

Napoles’ lawyers have earlier been pointing out that the files in Luy’s external hard drive were not authentic and may have been tampered.

 

On the other hand, the NBI, in its forensic examination report, has concluded that the files in Luy’s external hard drive were “not altered nor rectified from the day they were last saved”.

 

Luy’s hard drive allegedly contains spreadsheet files, soft copies of vouchers, receipts, photos and other documents that detail the transactions between Napoles and her alleged fake foundations and the lawmakers.

 

Records of the amounts of kickbacks lawmakers, including Estrada, received from Napoles in exchange for allocating their Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to the latter’s alleged fake foundations were also allegedly in the hard drive. — JDS, GMA News