Napoles not ‘pork’ scam mastermind –lawyer

Despite testimonies pointing to her as the person who supposedly engineered the alleged multibillion-peso pork barrel scam, controversial businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles is not the mastermind of the anomaly, her lawyer said Wednesday.

Lawyer Bruce Rivera said they have evidence to prove that in the alleged scam, the buck does not stop with his client.

"Records will show that. We are confident with that. I can prove, and it is clear, that she is not the most guilty," Rivera said in a phone interview aired over GMA News' "24 Oras."

Rivera, however, did not identify who masterminded the alleged anomaly.

He made this statement after Napoles met with Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to express her intent to tell all on the alleged anomaly.

On Tuesday, De Lima announced that Napoles offered herself as a state witness, but quickly added that she did not give any commitment to Napoles about being a state witness.

Under the law, an individual can qualify as state witness if his or her testimony on a grave offense is of "absolute necessity."

In addition to this, the witness must also be not the most guilty, and must not have been convicted of any crime in the past.

Lawyer Dennis Manalo, counsel of provisional state witness Ruby Tuason, earlier said that Napoles does not seem to meet the qualifications of a state witness as she does not seem to be the least guilty among those being implicated in the alleged scam. — Andreo Calonzo/KBK, GMA News