Napoles Convicted Over P50-Million Ghost Farm Projects

The Sandiganbayan has handed down decades-long prison sentences to convicted pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles, her associate and former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) undersecretary Jerry Pacturan for their roles in the P50-million ghost agricultural projects across several provinces in Luzon.

In a 237-page decision promulgated by the anti-graft court’s Sixth Division, Napoles was found guilty beyondreasonable doubt of 10 counts of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019) and 10 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification.

For the graft charges, Napoles was sentenced to 12 to 15 years in prison for each of the 10 counts. For the malversation charges, she received a sentence of 17 years and four months to 20 years for each count.

She was also meted the penalty of perpetual special disqualification and ordered to pay fines totaling P50 million, or P5 million for each malversation count.

The convictions stemmed from the illegal disbursement of P50 million in DAR funds to 10 dummy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) controlled by Napoles for non-existent agricultural projects.

The projects were supposed to provide farming supplies, equipment and livelihood packages to marginalized farmers in San Nicolas, Batangas; Infanta and General Nakar in Quezon; Sta. Maria, Bulacan; Calasiao, Rosales, San Nicolas and Umingan in Pangasinan and Dinalupihan and Pilar in Bataan.

However, the Commission on Audit (COA) and the Sandiganbayan found that these were ghost projects.

Pacturan, meanwhile, was acquitted of the 10 graft charges after the prosecution failed to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

The former DAR official, however, was found guilty of 10 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification.

He was sentenced to 14 years, eight months and one day to 19 years, one month and 11 days for each of the 10 malversation counts.

Like Napoles, he was meted the penalty of perpetual special disqualification and ordered to pay a total fine of P50 million.

Aside from the two, the Sandiganbayan also convicted Napoles’ employee Evelyn de Leon on three counts of graft and three counts of malversation.

De Leon was sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison for each graft count, and 14 years, eight months and one day to 19 years, one month and 11 days for each malversation count. She was fined P15 million and acquitted of the remaining charges.

To recover the stolen funds, the court ordered Napoles, Pacturan and De Leon to jointly reimburse the Bureau of the Treasury for the total amount malversed, plus six percent annual interest from the finality of the judgment until full payment.

Napoles and Pacturan are jointly liable for up to P50 million, while De Leon’s liability is capped at P15 million.

The court also issued alias warrants of arrest against co-accused DAR chief accountant Rowena Agbayani, Ronald John Lim Jr. and John Raymund de Asis, who remain at large. Their cases have been archived pending their arrest.

During the trial, state witness Benhur Luy, a former finance officer for Napoles, testified that Napoles orchestrated the scheme by directing her employees to forge the signatures of local mayors and notaries public on memoranda of agreement and project proposals.

According to Luy, Napoles ordered the creation of the dummy NGOs and provided the capital to open their bank accounts.

Luy said the released funds, sourced from DAR’s savings, were never used for the contracted livelihood projects and were instead split, with 50 percent going to Napoles and the remaining 50 percent given as kickbacks to involved DAR officials.

His testimony was corroborated by Marina Sula, another former Napoles employee admitted into the Witness Protection Program.

To prove the falsification charges, the prosecution presented several local chief executives who supposedly requested and partnered with the NGOs, but the mayors denied any knowledge of the projects or the organizations involved.

COA officials also confirmed the anomalous nature of the transactions.