A WITNESS in the Priority Development Assistance Fund scam on Tuesday told the Sandiganbayan she was one of the “trusted” employees of Janet Lim Napoles, saying that she used to enjoy perks from Napoles’ transactions with lawmakers including cars, foreign trips and weekly bonuses.
At Tuesday’s hearing on the bail plea of former representative Edgar Valdez of Apec, Marina Sula took the witness stand and said she and two other whistleblowers—and several employees of the JLN Corp.—Evelyn de Leon, Fernando Ramirez, Napoles’ nephew Ronald John Lim and driver Raymund de Asis were Napoles’ most trusted employees.
Napoles gave her, Suñas and Ramirez a Toyota Innova each in 2009, and that Napoles would pay for the installment on their vehicles through a Metrobank branch, Sula said.
On the other hand, Luy was given a Honda CRV, she added.
“She (Napoles) did not trust any person, but only us. We were the only ones who were allowed to keep the documents pertaining to the PDAF of the lawmakers. She would never allow any employee to see the dossiers,” she told the Fifth Division.
In addition, Napoles treated her and other select employees to an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong, China and even to Singapore sponsored by the lawmakers, Sula said.
“She would ask for support from lawmakers who would give her donations, which we had used to travel,” she said, adding “I heard Napoles talk to lawmakers at the JLN Corp. office asking for our pocket money.”
Despite such admission, Sula said she could no longer remember the dates of their foreign trips.
On top of their monthly wages and their one percent kickback as incorporators of Napoles-linked foundations, Napoles would give them weekly bonuses of P1,000.
Sula earlier admitted to accepting at least P3 million to P4 million in commissions as president of Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. (MAMFI) before the anti-graft court’s Fifth Division.
She claimed she also received P1 million to P1.5 million in kickbacks from Napoles’ Country-wide Agri and Rural Economic and Development Foundation (CARED), headed by her niece – Simonette Briones, who was kept in the dark about the operations of the foundation.
She challenged the Sandiganbayan to open their bank accounts for transparency, saying Napoles’ conduit-employees were not allowed to allow deposits of their commissions without Napoles’ consent.
The Office of the Ombudsman indicted Valdez for plunder and seven counts of graft for allegedly pocketing P57.78 million in commissions for funneling his PDAF in 2004 to 2010 to the Napoles’ foundations, and elevated the suits before the Sandiganbayan.