The Sandiganbayan has rejected the plea of convicted pork-barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles to reverse its findings on the case involving former Senator Ramon Revilla Jr.
Revilla was acquitted in the case but his chief of staff, Richard Cambe, and Napoles were found guilty of misusing his Priority Development Assistance Fund amounting to P224.5 million.
The Sandiganbayan’s First Division denied the motion for reconsideration of Napoles, saying “the evidence [presented by the Ombudsman] is sufficient to establish the guilt beyond reasonable doubt.”
In its resolution issued on March 13, copies of which were made available only on Monday, the Sandiganbayan said the scheme, where P124.5 million of Revilla’s pork barrel was plundered, would not have been possible without the conspiracy between Napoles and Revilla’s former legislative aide Richard Cambe.
“In sum, the totality of the evidence is sufficient to establish the guilt beyond reasonable doubt of Cambe and Napoles and for this, the present Motion for Reconsideration must fail,’’ the Sandiganbayan said.
Napoles, who is detained at the Correctional Institution for Women, had asked the Sandiganbayan to reverse her conviction, saying the acquittal of Revilla extinguished the plunder charge since the former lawmaker was considered to be the “main plunderer.
Napoles said she was merely a private individual and therefore could not have been the main plunderer, and that the ill-gotten wealth she supposedly received only amounted to P44 million or below the P50-million threshold.
“While the court did not find sufficient evidence for the pronouncement of guilt on the part of Revilla, there is overwhelming evidence presented to show that his co-accused, Cambe, who is a government official together with accused movant Janet Lim Napoles, are the main plunderers in this case,’’ the court said.
But Napoles said the evidence against Cambe, Revilla’s chief of staff, showed he received kickbacks from Napoles worth P13.9 million, well below the P50-million threshold for a plunder case.
But the anti-graft court said the amounts cited by Napoles were only portions of the summary of the rebates submitted by whistle-blower Benhur Luy, and that Cambe further received P127.5 million in kickbacks from Napoles.
“It is clear that in the act of amassing and accumulation of ill-gotten wealth, Cambe did not act alone. He had a private individual, accused-movant Napoles, who not just aided him but was one in his design to amass and accumulate ill-gotten wealth,” the resolution read.
In the same resolution, the Sandiganbayan said the Ombudsman failed to establish Revilla’s culpability.
“The bank deposits and property ownership of Cambe were not presented by the prosecution to prove that the monies paid by Napoles intended for Revilla are not with him. This left enough doubt in the mind of the majority on the culpability of Revilla,” the court said.