The presence of illegitimate online gaming operations has apparently turned the Philippines into a “money laundering hub,” Senator Sherwin Gatchalian lamented Sunday, after billions of pesos in suspicious transactions entered the country’s financial system.
Gatchalian issued the statement following the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s (AMLC) revelation that billions of pesos from several entities based in China allegedly flowed into the 36 bank accounts under the name of suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo or Guo Hua Ping.
The bulk of the funds were deposited from 2019 to 2022, the period when the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub—which authorities raided last March—was being constructed. Gatchalian said the AMLC should have reported these transactions sooner.
“As for me, this is one of biggest angles of this criminality—money laundering,” he said.
While the Philippines has a system in place to immediately detect suspicious financial transactions entering several banks, Gatchalian lamented its lack of enforcement and compliance. He said the Senate intends to look into this matter as well in their ongoing investigation.
“I saw the compliance (of these Philippine banks) in their head offices. I saw this as a problem. We should also look into the process,” the senator said. “This is also an eye opener.”
Gatchalian is actively investigating the POGO issue and its alleged ties to Guo, alongside Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros, who chairs the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
He said he will file a separate resolution to conduct a Senate hearing to determine whether there was collusion between banks and the POGO players to engage in money laundering activities. “I will personally look at this angle,” Gatchalian said.
The Court of Appeals on Friday issued a freeze order on Guo’s assets, which included her 36 bank accounts, a helicopter, 12 motor vehicles and 12 real properties.
The bank accounts of her business partners Zhiyang Huang, Roderick Paul Pujante, Baoying Lin, Hongjiang Yang, Zhengcan Yu, Zhang Ruijin and Rachelle Joan Carreon were covered in the order. All of them will be charged with violation of the Anti-Money Laundering Law.
A total of 18 bank accounts under QJJ Farm, Inc., 12 bank accounts of 3LIN Q Farm, Inc. and four other corporations either owned or tied to the Guo family were also ordered frozen. The freeze order came after a petition made by the AMLC over links to illegal online gaming operations in the country.
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