Extradition of Napoles brod sought

Janet Lim-Napoles. POOL PHOTO

A private complainant in the pork barrel scam cases has asked the government to demand the immediate repatriation of Reynald Lim, brother of jailed businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and identified by the US Department of Justice as the administrator of the US properties of the alleged mastermind of the multibillion-peso fund scam.

Lawyer Levito Baligod made the statement following the filing of the US justice department of a civil forfeiture complaint in a Los Angeles Federal District Court to gain control of Napoles’ assets in the United States, which is estimated to be worth $12.5 million.

“At this point, the government should seek the immediate repatriation of Lim, who has a warrant of arrest. He is the presumptive administrator of the Napoles illegal wealth abroad. This will prove that the administration has not succumbed to any leveraging,” Baligod said.

Napoles was convicted on April 14 for detaining pork barrel scam principal whistleblower Benhur Luy against his will for three months allegedly for fear that he will expose her illegal transactions. Luy is Napoles’ cousin and former longtime personal assistant.

She was sentenced by the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) to reclusion perpetua or a jail term of up to 40 years.

The government has offered a P5-million bounty for Lim, who remains at large and was never arraigned.

Based on the information filed by the US justice department, Lim holds both US and Philippine passports and operates under the alias Reynaldo Francisco while his wife, Ana Marie, uses the alias Ana Marie B. Dulguime.

The couple were convicted by the Sandiganbayan in 2010 for falsification of public documents in connection with the controversial delivery of Kevlar helmets to the Philippine Marines, but did not serve jail time.

According to the complaint, Lim was listed as the registered agent and chief financial officer for Western Ventures Management and Western Investment, the Napoles family companies that purchased and owned the Anaheim Motel and the Covina Real Property.

The complaint also stated that Lim, despite living in California in 2006, had zero wages for 2005 or 2006 based on the records of the California Employment Development Department.

“Lim’s only sources of income at the time were his wife’s modest salary as a nurse and money he received through his sister’s fraud and corruption,” the US justice department complaint said.

On July 18, 2007, Lim and his wife acquired the title to the Irvine House for the purchase price of $1.4 million, fully paid in 2009.

Last March 31, after Reynald had become a fugitive from Philippine kidnapping charges, a grant deed was filed with Orange County, vesting title to the Irvine House solely in Ana Marie Lim.

“The proceeds of Napoles’ scams—mostly in the form of wires from Key West Trading in the Philippines—funded the purchase of the Irvine House,” the complaint said.

Lim’s wife also did not earn sufficient income to purchase the $1.4-million house.