De Lima, Henares tap sources abroad to pin down Napoles
By EVANGELINE DE VERA
MALAYA
MALAYA
Express Inn in Anaheim, California
WHILE preparing criminal charges against alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles, government is also itching to get its hands on offshore properties and assets of the controversial businesswoman whose companies allegedly cornered about P10 billion of lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Fund.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Bureau of Internal Revenue chief Kim Henares confirmed yesterday that the government is now making inquiries with their counterparts in the United States and other countries where the Napoles and her family possibly have properties and financial investments.
“Our next target is to run after those assets overseas. We are availing of existing mechanisms,” De Lima said in an ambush interview.
In a press conference at the Department of Justice, Henares said the BIR’s investigation on the Napoleses’ properties in the US started as soon as reports on the pork barrel scam broke out, which was more than a month ago.
Henares said the BIR has sent notices to Napoles and her family informing them that the BIR is conducting an investigation and that it has found deficiencies in their tax payments, based on statements made by whistleblowers and news reports alleging they have multi-million dollar offshore accounts, on top of the lavish apartments and vehicles their family supposedly owns.
Napoles and husband Jaime have four children – Christine, James, Christian, and Jeane who reportedly lives in the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles.
Henares said Napoles’ brother Reynald Lim reportedly has an account at the Bank of America in San Diego, California.
A certain Jose Lim, believed to be a close relative of Napoles, also has an account at Wells Fargo in Pasadena, California, while another account in Wells Fargo, Orange County allegedly belongs to Western Investment Corp., a company said to be owned by the Napoles family.
The Napoleses were able to purchase a hotel in California worth $7 million and a $2-million unit at the Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles.
“Madali lang i-check ang foreign properties ng mga Napoles. We are coordinating with foreign governments kasi sa foreign government, pati bank accounts ay pwede namin makuha dito. Kukuha lang kami ng information. If she has a business abroad, mas malaki ang problema niya because the US tax you in a global manner,” Henares said.
She further said many of the properties and assets of Napoles and her family in the country turned out to be registered in other people’s names, and the BIR is still in the process of verifying information.
“Marami (properties) hindi nag-match. We’re trying to find out sino ba mga may-ari nito, kung kaya ba ng income nila, kung nagbayad ba sila ng taxes… I’m not saying magnanakaw siya (Napoles), pero kung gagawa ako ng isang (illegal) bagay, siyempre I will hide my tracks. Maaring natago niya pero sa kayabangan nila, kaya lumalabas,” Henares said.
She said that apart from the bureau’s primary concern which is to determine if there was any evasion of payment of taxes on these properties, the possibility that dummies may have been used by the Napoleses cannot be ruled out.
Properties named after Napoles’ minor and legal age children are also part of the BIR probe, she said.
The BIR is also coordinating with other government agencies in zeroing in on all the family’s assets for “cross-checking.”
Napoles is detained in Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for a case of serious illegal detention filed by a former aide.
Physicians at the training school of the PNP’s elite Special Action Force conducted checks twice yesterday morning on Napoles and found her vital signs to be normal.
Senior Supt. Reuben Theodore Sindac, chief of the PNP public information office, said Napoles could have already adapted to her detention cell, which is why her vital signs are much better now than when she was first brought to the detention facility inside
He said the first checkup was conducted around 6 a.m. and showed Napoles’ blood pressure at 140/90, heart rate at 84, respiratory rate at 18, and pulse rate at 93
About two hours later, a second check was conducted and it showed her blood pressure at 130/80, heart rate at 84, respiratory rate 20, and blood sugar at 130.
She was given longganisa, boiled egg, rice and coffee for breakfast, and ginataang kalabasa with sitaw and fried boneless bangus, and rice for lunch. –With David James Telan and Raymond Africa
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