Jeane Napoles has left Philippines: DOJ

MANILA - (UPDATE) Jeane Napoles, who was indicted by a US grand jury for conspiracy to commit domestic and international money laundering, left the country last week, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Friday.

• Napoles, 5 others indicted for int'l money laundering, conspiracy, bribery
• Insta-infamous: How Jeane Napoles' social media posts tipped off probers

Napoles, daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles, left the country on July 27, said Guevarra. The details of her trip were unknown as of writing.

The younger Napoles and her mother, along with their co-accused, may be extradited to the United States, provided that they are not facing charges in the Philippines, Guevarra earlier said.

The justice chief said US authorities may seek to locate Jeane Catherine’s whereabouts after the recent criminal indictments.

“Considering that an indictment has already been made in US courts, the US government has ways of tracking down the defendants anywhere, including tapping the assistance of the Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization),” Guevarra said.

Also indicted were Jo Christine and James Christopher Napoles, their uncle Reynald Luy Lim, and aunt Ana Marie Lim.

To recall, the P17-million tax evasion case against Jeane was already dismissed by the Court of Tax Appeals.

Apart from Jeane, there were no records of the others' departure from the Philippines.

The US Department of Justice said about $20 million in discretionary funds from Philippine lawmakers were diverted to money remitters in the Philippines and then wired to Southern California bank accounts where the money was used "to purchase real estate, shares in 2 businesses, 2 Porsche Boxsters and finance the living expenses of three family members residing in the United States."

Janet Napoles was arrested in August 2013 and her family's bank accounts were frozen in the Philippines.

But in March 2018, Napoles was provisionally admitted to the witness protection program.

• WATCH: Janet Napoles and the pork barrel scam

Guevarra clarified that apart from Napoles, who is detained inside Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City because of pending plunder and graft cases over the ‘pork barrel’ scam, the rest of the accused cannot be barred from leaving the Philippines unless there is a hold departure order against them issued by local courts.

- report from Dexter Ganibe and Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News