MANILA – Was whistleblower Benhur Luy illegally detained by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles? According to Napoles’ lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, Luy concocted the tale of being held against his will from December 2010 to March 2013 to cover up his own theft of the Christmas bonuses of JLN employees and his own bank loans using Napoles’ account. “Sometime in December, Janet Napoles discovered that [Luy] had stolen the Christmas bonus of the employees. Apart from that, providentially during the same Christmas party, a bank official called and said: ‘Mrs. Napoles, nakakalimutan niyo ata yung inyong amortization sa 2 loans niyo.’ There was a P2.5 million loan and P2.7 million loan of Benhur. She was so startled. Nagulat siya kasi hindi naman siya nag lo-loan. And the bank official said: ‘Si Benhur po, ginamit ang account ninyo at binack to back pa yung loan na ito.’ We have that in sworn affidavit,” she said in an ANC Headstart interview. Kapunan said Luy admitted to his wrongdoing and then promised to atone by placing himself on “self-solitude” at a retreat house. “He styles himself as a neo-catechist, whatever that is, and he promised that he would literally atone for his sins and he would put himself on self-solitude so that Mrs. Napoles will not file any charges against him. The aprents were not told that is why the parents went to the NBI. The parents were not told because kahihiyan ng parents. Remember, this is a family that Mrs. Napoles helped. They're very distant relatives,” she said. Kapunan said State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera had already rejected the serious illegal detention case against Napoles after evaluating 17 affidavits, including five from priests and one monsignor who handled the retreat house where Luy was allegedly detained. The lawyer denied that Luy was detained against his will. She said Luy’s own sister could freely visit the retreat house, which is located somewhere in Magallanes. “The people who allegedly detained him were the priests. If we are really charged, if Janet is charged with illegal detention, it should be the priests and the monsignor and the seminarians there,” she said. ANC Headstart, September 3, 2013
