The Sandiganbayan Sixth Division has found businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles and former Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) Undersecretary Jerry Pacturan guilty of the misuse of ₱50 million intended for agricultural projects in Luzon.

In its 237-page decision, the anti-graft court convicted Napoles and Pacturan on 10 counts of malversation of public funds through falsification of public documents in connection with what prosecutors described as ghost projects.

Napoles was also found guilty on 10 counts of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, while Pacturan was acquitted of the graft charges after the court ruled that the prosecution failed to establish his criminal liability beyond reasonable doubt for those specific offenses.

The court sentenced Napoles to up to 20 years of imprisonment for each count of malversation and up to 15 years for each count of graft. Meanwhile, Pacturan was sentenced to up to 19 years, one month, and 11 days of imprisonment for each count of malversation.

Court records showed that the funds were intended to finance agricultural assistance projects for 10 local government units (LGUs) in Luzon, with each LGU supposed to receive ₱5 million worth of farm inputs. However, the projects were found to be fictitious and were never implemented.

The case stemmed from the alleged diversion of funds allocated by the Department of Agrarian Reform in 2011.

The Sandiganbayan and government prosecutors clarified that the ₱50 million involved in the case did not come from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel allocations but from the regular budget of the Department of Agrarian Reform for 2011.

The latest ruling adds to the series of convictions previously handed down against Napoles, who has long been linked to multiple corruption cases involving the misuse of government funds.