MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday confirmed that the wife of Sen. Lito Lapid returned to the country last Tuesday.
Marissa Tadeo Lapid of Porac, Pampanga was reportedly sentenced by a United States district court last Feb. 4 to five months of home confinement and 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to charges of bulk cash smuggling.
She also reportedly paid a fine amounting to $40,000 and a forfeiture of $159,700.
BI spokesperson Ma. Antonette Bucasa Mangrobang said that Lapid returned on a Cathay Pacific flight.
Lapid arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 at around 10:55 a.m. last May 21.
She left the country last Jan. 16, 2013.
She was arrested on Nov. 27, 2010 at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. She reportedly tried to smuggle in $40,000 in cash and P10,000.
Lapid was charged before US District Court Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen of Las Vegas in Nevada with a count each of cash bulk smuggling and conspiracy to structure transactions to evade reporting requirements.