Benhur Luy asks Manila court to lift freeze order on his assets
Pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy KRISTINE SABILLO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—Pork barrel scam whistleblower Benhur Luy asked the Manila Regional Trial Court to lift the freeze order on his assets insisting that it was legally acquired while working under the employ of alleged pork scam mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.
In a motion for reconsideration, Benhur, together with his brother Arthur and mother Gertrudes insisted that their assets were legally acquired.
“Assuming that Benhur is not immune from criminal prosecution, there arestill factua grounds to support the conclusion that the amounts in the bank account of Benhur are legitimately acquired since he was employed by Napoles and worked for his salary. There is no direct proof that the amounts in the bank account of Benhur came directly from illegal sources,” the motion stated.
Covered by the asset preservation order (APO) are bank accounts of Benhur Luy at Bank of the Philippine Islands with US$15,008 and his peso accounts at the United Coconut Planters Bank and Metro Bank; Arthur Luy’s Banco De Oro account with P940,000 deposit and a Metrobank account of Gertrudes Luy.
Also covered by the APO are the 2007 Eastworld Max Motorcycle, 2010 Mitsubishi Montero Sport G and 2004 Toyota Corolla Altis, all owned by Benhur Luy and the 2013 Mitsubishi Lancer of Arthur Luy.
Benhur said since he was allowed by Napoles to use one of her condominium units, he was able to save most of his earnings. On his dollar accounts, he said his friends pitched in for his trip to Germany in 2005 to attend the World Youth Day. But Napoles did not approve his request to travel. He said he tried to return the money but they said he could keep the money for the World Youth Day in Spain but still, Napoles did not allow him to go.
Benhur added that over the years, his dollar deposit increased because his co-employees exchanged their dollar remittances to him.
On Arthur, he explained that he had a one day transaction of P1-million because he transferred his savings from Metrobank to BDO to consolidate his savings.
Arthur reiterated that he was able to have the said amount of savings because he has been a seaman since 1999 and his monthly income is US$7,000.
Their motion called as “sham” the forfeiture case filed against them because the government failed to state any crime that they have committed or transactions showing that they are committing money laundering.
The Manila RTC Branch 22 last month issued the indefinite preservation order against Luy, the family of Janet Lim-Napoles and several other individuals and organizations implicated in the pork barrel scam.
Benhur said his assets and properties were the result of his hard work while under the employ of Napoles.
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