Businesswoman and suspected "pork barrel" scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles (right) shares a photo with socialite now state witness Ruby Tuason in this undated photo. STAR file
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2014/05/14/1323018/napoles-tuasons-p300-m-mansion-malampaya
MANILA, Philippines — Janet Lim Napoles backed Senator Jinggoy Estrada's claim that Ruby Tuason is the main orchestrator of the P900-million Malampaya fund scam.
In an unsigned affidavit submitted by former senator Panfilo Lacson to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Tuesday, Napoles said that Tuason was involved in the embezzling of funds supposedly allocated for energy-related projects to use in the 2010 national elections.
"It was around November 2009, when Ruby Tuason ("Ruby") approached me and said that she will be able to get money from Malacañang which shall be used for the then coming 2010 presidential national elections. Later, I found out that the money came from the Malampaya Fund," Napoles said.
Napoles said that Tuason's mansion in the posh Dasmariñas Village in Makati City worth P300 million was built using part of the country's energy funds.
"Aside from the P900 million Malampaya Fund, Ruby was also able to bring in different project insertions of other politicians amounting to P50 million," Napoles said.
She claimed to be introduced to the socialite through her late husband Butch Tuason.
Napoles, suspected for being the brains behind the Priority Development Assistance Funds scam, admitted that she received kickbacks of 5 percent from the energy funds, but denied she initiated the scheme.
Tuason, meanwhile, demanded for a hefty 60-percent cut--an amount she claimed would be shared with "other parties," such as mayors.
Napoles said her company gave this amount to Tuason in advance.
"She said such money will be used for election. The money will be coursed through the [Department of Agrarian Reform]," Napoles said.
About 35 percent of the Malampaya fund would be used for "production," or in delivery of money to fake beneficiaries.
"Ruby was the one who provided me the list of 97 mayors and their respective municipalities. Ruby Tuason was very adamant to make sure that everything be done in a rush," Napoles stated.
Tuason was asking Napoles and her team that all documents be submitted to DAR in the soonest possible time. The scheme was completed in December 2009, Napoles said.
"There is an urgent need to release the Malampaya Fund before the end of the year because of the 2010 election ... The documents were later on submitted and accepted by the DAR," the detained businesswoman said.
Napoles also claimed that the socialite asked her to deliver the project funds in cash to unnamed mayors, who would then use the money to boost their election campaign.
"I refused the idea but I was prompted later on to give in because I have to get the investment that I already advanced them," Napoles said.
In tagging Tuason in the Malampaya scandal, Napoles has affirmed Estrada's claim that Tuason was its "mastermind," while her mansion has been known as the "Malampaya Mansion."
"I know that she is the mastermind of the so-called Malampaya scam. And up to now, the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has not started investigating the alleged Malampaya scam." Estrada said in a television interview earlier this month.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said that Tuason may have been granted immunity from the congressional funds mess, but she is still among the respondents in the plunder cases linked to the Malampaya funds.
Tuason, however, washed her hands clean in Senate panel hearing by pointing to her late brother Remy Chan, whom she said dealt with Napoles in the Malampaya scheme.
She said her brother used her house in Makati City as a pickup point for kickbacks from the transactions on the Malampaya Fund.
Tuason also said that her Dasmariñas residence was purchased using her late husband's insurance.
Napoles' lawyer Bruce Rivera had confirmed that Lacson was given a separate draft affidavit coursed through her husband, Jimmy, and children. The Napoles family purportedly approached Lacson seeking for help in the plunder charges against the detained businesswoman.
Written by Bizchum
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