Sixty four more years in prison. That’s what you get if you scam people off their monies the same way Janet Napoles did several years ago, the Sandiganbayan said in their statement today.
Napoles hugged the headlines during the time of former president Benigno S. Aquino III. Her former aide exposed Napoles as the one who masterminded the illegal use of pork barrel funds by several legislators.
After several cases slapped on her, the Sandiganbayan found her again guilty of illegally disbursing at least P20 million from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), or pork barrel, of former South Cotabato Representative Arthur Pingoy. It was not clear if Pingoy was also meted the same punishment.
Voting 3-2, Napoles was found guilty by the Special Second division of the anti-graft court and sentenced to at least 40 years in prison for committing four acts of malversation and 24 years on four counts of graft.
Aside from Napoles, the Sandiganbayan also convicted former state-run National Agribusiness Corporation (NABCOR) officials Rhodora Mendoza, Victor Cacal and Maria Ninez Guañizo of malversation of public funds.