Napoles acquitted of plunder but found guilty of corruption

The Sandiganbayan on Monday acquitted Janet Lim Napoles and a former lawmaker of plunder but she was found guilty of corruption in connection with the use of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

The court convicted Napoles of nine counts of corruption of a public official and Apec party-list representative Edgar Valdez of nine counts of direct bribery.

Both were sentenced to up to six years in jail and fined nearly P27 million.

Napoles was believed to have masterminded the PDAF or pork barrel scam. Several lawmakers were accused of misusing their PDAF, a program designed to allow legislators to fund small-scale infrastructure or community projects.

The scam that was first exposed in 2013 involved the funding of ghost projects «implemented» through the companies run by Napoles.

Based on court testimonies, the funds were processed through non-existent foundations and fake non-governmental organizations supposedly established under the wing of the JLN Group of Companies, the holding company of Napoles.

The employees of Napoles were named as incorporators or directors and each foundation or NGO served as an official recipient of a particular legislator's PDAF.

Some lawmakers were reported to have earned big kickbacks for funneling their pork barrel to Napoles' NGOs.

The Supreme Court has ruled that PDAF was unconstitutional.