Guevarra: Napoles kin in Philippines may be extradited to US
MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Thursday said that relatives of pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles could be extradited to the United States to face the money laundering charges against them.
In a message to reporters, Guevarra: “Those (indicted Napoles kin) who are here and not facing charges in Philippines courts may be the subject of a request for extradition; those who are in the US may be immediately arrested.”
On August 1, the US federal grand jury indicted Napoles, her children Jo Christine, James Christopher and Jeane Catherine; her brother Reynaldo and his wife Ana Marie for conspiracy to commit money laundering, domestic money laundering and international money laundering.
READ: US indicts Janet Lim-Napoles, kin for money laundering
The Justice chief said that while Janet may not be extradited to the US due to her pending cases in Philippine courts, those who may be in the Philippines could be.
“We shall continue to extend legal assistance to our US counterparts, including the possible extradition of certain persons who might be found here,” he added.
Guevarra also said that they are already coordinating with the Bureau of Immigration to verify if Napoles’ relatives who were charged are in the country.
Janet is being held at the Camp Bagong Diwa detention center in Taguig City. She is facing five counts of plunder, graft and other cases before the Sandiganbayan, over her involvement in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.
“Although we cannot extradite Napoles until her cases in Philippine courts have been terminated, the DOJ will extend all assistance to its US counterpart in prosecuting the money laundering cases, and in ensuring the people's money is returned in due time to our national treasury,” Guevarra added.
No request for extradition yet
"The US DOJ has not submitted any formal request for extradition. But if that comes to pass, we'll evaluate the options provided under thelaw and our extradition treaty with the US," he said.
He added that the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has jurisdiction over Napoles and others charged over the PDAF scam.
"The Sandiganbayan has exclusive jurisdiction over the Napoles cases here. The DOJ is not even the prosecutor in those cases," he said.
US indicts Napoles, relatives
The US Department of Justice, in a statement on Wednesday, said that Napoles and the five others were indicted as they had “converted to their own benefit millions of dollars in [PDAF] and transmitted approximately $20 million from that scheme into the US to purchase assets, including real property and luxury vehicles.”
Lawmakers allegedly funneled their Priority Development Asssitance Fund allocation to pay for non-existent projects by fraudulent non-governmental organizations in exchange for kickbacks. Janet has been accused of being the scam's mastermind.
Investigations into the PDAF scam led to the indictment of three former lawmakers: Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
Enrile was released for “humanitarian considerations,” while Estrada was allowed to post bail. Only Revilla remains detained.
President Rodrigo Duterte's newly-appointed Ombudsman Samuel Martires will now take the lead in continuing the probe into the multibillion-peso scam. — Kristine Joy Patag
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