According to an NBI investigator, it is “the mother of all scams”. Allegations that up to Php10 billion was siphoned off by a syndicate into dummy firms is rocking the foundations of both chambers of Philippine Congress. Linked to the scandal are no less than five senators and 23 congressmen. Was it a racket knowingly or unwittingly participated in by the 28 law makers? That remains to be determined. At the moment investigations are still on-going and the legislators implicated in the racket have so far either kept mum or denied the allegations. The news first broke in the Inquirer.net which over a four-part series of articles revealed the extent of the scam allegedly perpetrated by a certain Janet Lim Napoles, CEO of trading firm JLN Corporation. The series of stories ran by the Inquirer.net are as follows (key excerpts quoted for each): NBI probes P10-B scam (Fri, 12 Jul 2013) JLN stands for Janet Lim Napoles, who has been identified as the alleged brains behind the racket. She runs the company with her brother, Reynald “Jojo” Lim. The sworn affidavits—prepared by six whistle-blowers with the assistance of their lawyer, Levito Baligod, and submitted to the NBI—stated that JLN Corp., with offices on the 25th floor of Discovery Suites in Ortigas Center in Pasig City, had defrauded the government of billions of pesos in ghost projects involving the creation of at least 20 bogus nongovernment organizations. These NGOs were supposedly the ultimate recipients of the state funds, but the money went to Napoles, according to the affidavits of the six whistle-blowers. ‘I am not involved in any scam’ (Sat, 13 Jul 2013)
