The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has convicted businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles and former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan over the diversion of P50 million in government funds intended for farm projects that were later found to be non-existent.
In a decision promulgated on Friday, the anti-graft court found Napoles and Pacturan guilty on 10 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents.
Napoles was also convicted on 10 counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, while Pacturan was acquitted of the graft charges after the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The court sentenced Napoles to up to 20 years imprisonment for each count of malversation and up to 15 years for each graft conviction. Pacturan, meanwhile, was sentenced to up to more than 19 years imprisonment for each of the 10 counts of malversation.
Former Napoles staff member Evelyn De Leon was also convicted on three counts each of graft and malversation. She was acquitted in seven other counts after prosecutors failed to establish her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
In its 237-page ruling, the court said Pacturan conspired with several DAR officials and private individuals, including Napoles, to facilitate the release of P5 million each to 10 non-government organizations allegedly controlled by Napoles for projects that were never implemented.
The court said Pacturan entered into memoranda of agreement with municipalities and NGOs despite lacking authority and despite apparent irregularities in the documents.
Napoles, meanwhile, was found to have ordered the preparation of fabricated request letters and falsified signatures of municipal mayors and notaries to secure the release of funds. De Leon was tasked to submit the documents to the DAR and facilitate the receipt of government checks, according to the ruling.
Prosecutors said the funds were supposed to provide farm inputs to 10 local government units, but witnesses testified that the projects did not exist. Several mayors from Bulacan, Batangas, Pangasinan, and Quezon also told the court that the signatures appearing in the funding requests were forged.
The prosecution clarified that the projects were not funded through the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) but came from the regular funds of the Department of Agrarian Reform.
The cases against two accused were dismissed following their deaths, while three other accused remain at large.
