LOS ANGELES
The Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint Tuesday seeking to recover about $12.5 million in assets found in the United States that derive from bribery and kickback schemes in the Philippines spanning nearly a decade, according to officials.
“Over nearly a decade, Janet Napoles allegedly stole millions of dollars in funds entrusted to her for development assistance and disaster relief for the people of the Philippines,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell.
Adding,“In an effort to disguise and enjoy her ill-gotten gains, Napoles purchased properties and other assets in the United States for herself and her family members, including a condominium at the Ritz and a Porsche. The Justice Department will not allow the United States to become a playground for the corrupt or a place to hide and invest stolen riches.”
Napoles is currently serving a sentence of life in prison in the Philippines for her role in the kidnapping and detention of her cousin, Benhur Luy, who served as Napoles’s finance officer and tracked her schemes.
These are the allegations in the complaint filed by the Department of Justice:
From approximately 2004 to 2012, Philippine businesswoman Janet Napoles, 51, paid tens of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks to Philippine politicians and other government officials in exchange for over $200 million in funding for purported development assistance and disaster relief.
Napoles’ non-governmental organizations, however, then either failed to provide, or under-delivered on, the promised support, officials allege.
The complaint further alleges that Napoles also diverted non-governmental organizations funds for her own personal use and benefit, often draining accounts within days of government disbursements.
For this conduct, the Philippines’ Office of the Ombudsman has charged Napoles, two of her children and numerous current and former Philippine politicians and other government officials in connection with what has been nicknamed the “pork barrel scam.”
The complaint alleges that Napoles transferred over $12 million in Philippine government-awarded funds to bank accounts in the United States in the names of, or controlled by, her family members.
Napoles allegedly used the money to purchase numerous assets, including a condominium at the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles for her 21-year-old daughter.
The complaint seeks to forfeit the proceeds from the sale of the Los Angeles condominium, along with several other assets, including a motel near Disneyland in Anaheim, California; properties in Covina and Irvine, California; a 19 percent stake in a California-based consulting company; and a Porsche Boxster that was purchased for another daughter, according to authorities.
The complaint was brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.