Luy's camp: Napoles pocketed more than P2 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles pocketed more than P2 billion from the pork barrel fund scam, the camp of whistleblower Benhur Luy said.

Lawyer Raji Mendoza, Luy's counsel, said that the amount is based on a wrong computation and it seems to be way smaller than what Napoles actually pocketed from Priority Development Assistance Funds scam in the past decade.

"Maaaring napakaliit po n'yang ino-offer niya na 'yan," Mendoza said in an interview with dzMM on Wednesday.

"Siguro isipin na lang din natin na hindi naman din iba ang scam na involved s'ya so mali ata 'yang computation na 'yan," he added.

On Tuesday, Napoles' camp said that the alleged scam mastermind is willing to return only P100 mllion to P200 million of the P2 billion as she only had a five to 10 percent commission from the exchanges.

Mendoza, however, admitted that it is difficult to determine exactly how much Napoles benefited from the scam as records still need to be audited.

He said that Napoles had already deposited much of her money to foreign banks and used it to purchase in properties abroad.

The lawyer added that in Makati alone, Napoles' family owns a P200 million property.

He said Napoles' initial "pork barrel" earnings may have grown through various investments.

"Dahil d'yan makikita natin na hindi pa talaga siya nagsasabi ng totoo, so papaanong gagawin natin d'yan," he said.

The government's freeze order only covers properties and bank accounts registered under Napoles, while some of her wealth are under companies or placed in accounts named after other people.

Luy earlier claimed that Napoles' employees under JLN Corporation used to place millions in bathtubs and in bags in the family's home as there were not enough space to store cash.

As Napoles' former finance officer and cousin, Luy also claimed that her employer's liquidity allowed her to advance commissions or kickbacks of lawmakers before the fraudulent projects are funded by the Department of Budget and Management.