The Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed that Jeane Catherine Napoles, the daughter of alleged pork barrel scam queen Janet Lim Napoles, has returned to the country following the release of a US jury indicting her and her family of conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Jeane has arrived in the country from Bali, Indonesia on Friday, August 3.
“Bureau of Immigration records confirm that Jeane Catherine Napoles returned yesterday from Denpasar, Indonesia,” Guevarra said.
Guevarra said the next step is to wait for further instructions from the US DOJ regarding the possible extradition of the Napoles family to face their charges in the US.
“But we are ready to extend our legal assistance and cooperation under our mutual legal assistance agreement and extradition treaty,” the Justice Secretary said.
Meanwhile, the family’s lawyer Ian Encarnacion said that the younger Napoles maintains her innocence.
“We maintain our client’s innocence, and we look forward to having these cases dismissed,” Encarnacion said.
A federal grand jury in the United States has indicted alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Napoles and five others for funneling in and out $20-million (Php1.06-billion) worth of Philippine government funds through a “multi-year bribery and fraud scheme.”
In a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice (US DOJ), Napoles, alongside five members of her family including her children Jo Christine, James Christopher, and Jeane Catherine; brother Reynald Luy Lim, and his wife Ana Marie were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, domestic money laundering, and international money laundering.
US DOJ added that Napoles transferred the money to different bank accounts and was used to buy real estate properties and investments in businesses, among others.
“Approximately $20 million of those funds were diverted to money remitters in the Philippines and then wired to Southern California bank accounts where the money was used to purchase real estate, shares in two businesses, two Porsche Boxsters, and finance the living expenses of three family members residing in the United States: Jeane Napoles, Reynald Lim, and Ana Lim,” the statement read.
US DOJ also mentioned that following Napoles’ arrest, she and her family members “attempted to quietly liquidate the assets in the United States, secretly repatriate most of the resulting funds back to the Philippines and to other accounts in the U.S. and United Kingdom, and disburse some of the funds to Jeane Napoles, who used the money to finance her lifestyle and open a fashion business.”
