The Justice Department will discuss with the Sandiganbayan any request from the United States government seeking the extradition of suspected pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles to face trial for conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would confer with the anti-graft court once his office officially receives the extradition request from its counterpart in the United States.
options under the Philippine-US treaty will be evaluated by the DOJ when an actual request is made by the US government. We will consult with the Sandiganbayan on this,” Guevarra said, in a text message to reporters on Sunday.
He said that while the extradition treaty allows the immediate extradition of Napoles and the suspension of plunder and other cases against her before the anti-graft court, his office would consider the stance of the Sandiganbayan before deciding on the matter.
Guevarra said the opinion rendered by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang that Napoles cannot be sent to the US right away because all her cases here should be resolved first would be taken into account.
“It is true that the Sandiganbayan has acquired exclusive jurisdiction over the person of Janet Napoles, and that is a factor that will be seriously considered in deciding on the matter,” Guevarra said.
While the Sandiganbayan under the judicial branch has jurisdiction over Napoles, it is the DOJ under the executive branch that will decide legal option under the extradition treaty would be taken.
He said it was unlikely that the case would be taken to the Supreme Court as the relationship with the Sandiganbayan was not adversarial.
“Both sides are cooperating with each other,” he said.
Earlier, Guevarra said Napoles could be extradited right away upon request of the US and her trial for cases in the Sandiganbayan could be suspended.
He said the Philippine government “can surrender her (Napoles) temporarily to the US authorities so that her trial for money laundering could be completed in the US.”
“That is one of the two legal options under our extradition treaty if the US officially requests the extradition of Janet Napoles,” the DOJ chief said.
The other option under the treaty, he said, is for the extradition proceedings to start only after her pending cases at the Sandiganbayan have been terminated or her sentence served.
He said under such a scenario, Napoles’ extradition to the US would have to wait for years considering that she has many cases pending before the anti-graft court.
Tang said Napoles cannot be extradited while she is on trial in Philippine courts.
“The rule in our jurisdiction is that once a court acquires jurisdiction over a case, it continues to do so until the termination of the case. This includes jurisdiction over the person of the accused in a criminal case,” Tang said.
Guevarra said that family members of Napoles who were indicted with her in the US money laundering case but who do not have pending cases in the Philippines could be extradited first.
Napoles and five family members have been indicted in the US for allegedly laundering some $20 million in public funds obtained through the pork barrel fund scam.
Napoles, her children Jo Christine, James Christopher and Jeane Catherine; her brother Reynaldo and his wife Ana Marie were indicted by a federal grand jury for the crime of conspiracy to commit money laundering, domestic money laundering and international money laundering.
Napoles, currently detained at the Camp Bagong Diwa detention center in Taguig City, is standing trial for plunder, graft and other cases before the Sandiganbayan. She could only stand trial in the money laundering case upon an extradition request from the US.
In the charge sheet, the federal grand jury accused Napoles and other defendants of fraudulently converting money from the multibillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund.
The money was paid to dozens of non-governmental organizations controlled by Napoles and diverted to kickbacks for the legislators and other government officials, and for the personal use of the Napoles family.
About $20 million of those funds were diverted to money remitters in the Philippines and then wired to Southern California bank accounts where the money was used to purchase real estate, shares in two businesses, two Porsche Boxsters, and finance the living expenses of three family members residing in the United States: Jeane Napoles and the Lim couple.
It was reported that about $12.5 million in Southern California real estate has been seized by the US Attorney’s Office and is subject to a civil forfeiture case pending before United States District Judge James V. Selna. If the court orders the assets forfeited, the United States will work with Philippine officials in an attempt to return the stolen funds back to the Philippine government.
The money laundering case involved activities by the defendants from September 2012 to August 2014. In September 2012, an audit discovered the fraud and the US proceeds were exposed in July 2013.
Napoles was arrested in August 2013 and her bank accounts in the Philippines were frozen.
Thereafter, Napoles and her family members attempted to quietly liquidate the assets in the United States, secretly repatriate most of the resulting funds back to the Philippines and to other accounts in the U.S. and United Kingdom, and disburse some of the funds to Jeane Napoles, who used the money to finance her lifestyle and open a fashion business.