Palace eyes return of laundered funds to PHL with Napoles indictment in US

Malacañang on Thursday expressed hope the indictment of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles in the United States for money laundering will pave the way for the return of stolen public funds to the Philippines.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque welcomed the indictment, “as it bolsters the government’s case against her before the Sandiganbayan.”

“The charge of money laundering against Mrs. Napoles and her co-defendants shows that there is reason to believe that they attempted to retain the ill-gotten gains from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam,” Roque said.

“With the help of US authorities, who have been in continuous coordination with our government, the funds that Mrs. Napoles and her co-defendants attempted to hide away will soon be returned for the benefit of the Filipino people.”

A US federal grand jury has ordered the indictment of Napoles and five others for conspiracy to commit domestic and international money laundering as they allegedly funneled Philippine public funds in and out of the US through a “multi-year bribery and fraud scheme.”

The jury found that the indicted individuals, as well as around 20 Philippine lawmakers and other government officials, converted to their own benefit millions of dollars in the now outlawed PDAF and transmitting approximately $20 million of the amount into the US “to purchase assets, including real property and luxury vehicles,” the US Justice department said on Tuesday.

“As more of Mrs. Napoles’ schemes come to light, it becomes imperative to charge all those who illegally profited from her transactions, regardless of their position or political affiliation,” Roque said.

US Attorney Nick Hanna said that American authorities will work with their Philippine counterparts to extradite Napoles and her family to the US so they could face the charges.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Thursday that the indicted Napoles kin who are in the country and not facing charges in Philippine courts may be the subject of a request for extradition while those who are in the US may be immediately arrested.

In the Philippines, Napoles is facing five counts of the non-bailable offense of plunder and graft charges before six of the seven divisions of the anti-graft court, Sandiganbayan.

She is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.  —NB, GMA News