(UPDATE) Court issues freeze order on Napoles, Luy bank accounts

Combined photos of the Court of Appeals in Manila and a videograb of illegal detention suspect Janet Lim Napoles.

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) on Friday issued a freeze order on the bank accounts of Janet Lim Napoles, the alleged brains behind multi-billion peso Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.

The order, which will be effective for six months, covers 107 bank accounts of Napoles' children and relatives and those under the name of Benhur Luy, the whistleblower in the multi-billion peso pork barrel scam.

Accounts of non-governmental organizations accused of having ghost projects funded by lawmakers' pork barrel and those of employees of Napoles-owned JLN Corporation were  ordered frozen by the appellate court.

Napoles and her brother, Reynald "Jojo" Lim, are currently at large for a serious illegal detention case involving the alleged kidnapping of Luy.

Related story: NBI still looking for Napoles, brother

The Makati Regional Trial court issued Napoles and Lim's warrant of arrest Wednesday, but agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) were unable to find the siblings in their addresses.

The NBI has urged the public to be on the lookout for the "high-profile" fugitives.

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