Guo won’t ask Supreme Court to reverse AMLC asset freeze

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Bamban Mayor Alice Guo yesterday said it will not ask the Supreme Court (SC) to overturn the decision of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze her assets.

The AMLC ordered financial institutions and government agencies to freeze the bank accounts and assets of Guo and two other persons linked to illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) firms.

In a radio interview, Guo’s legal counsel Stephen David said he will question the move of AMLC before the Court of Appeals after the CA approved the council’s petition for the issuance of the order, effectively freezing the assets of the persons and entities allegedly involved in human trafficking, money laundering and illicit POGO activities.

Those identified in AMLC’s petition are Guo, Zhiyang Huang and Baoying Lin. ?“We will no longer question it (in the SC) since it is in the court already. What we want is due process where the Court of Appeals will allow us to explain,” David said.

He added that Guo has yet to receive a copy of the freeze order. 

“We will ask for a copy as we are covered by the Data Privacy (Act). AMLC should not divulge to the public (Guo’s assets and bank accounts) even if she is a public official. There are limitations and guidelines for that,” David said.

The freeze order covers a wide range of assets, including 90 bank accounts across 14 financial institutions, several real properties and high-value personal properties, including luxury vehicles and a helicopter.

“These are all general allegations. Right now, we are evaluating why the Court of Appeals approved (the petition) to freeze (the assets and bank accounts of Guo),” David added. 

At the same time, David expressed confidence that the SC will act on the petition after Guo asked the high tribunal to stop the Senate from summoning her as a resource person in the hearing investigating the illegal offshore gaming hub in her town that was recently raided by authorities.

Guo’s lawyers filed before the SC a petition for certiorari, with prayer for annulment of subpoena and temporary restraining order against using the suspended mayor as a resource person in the Senate.

“Our petition aims for the Supreme Court to issue established guidelines on how the Senate should treat resource persons,” David said.

Guo was cited in contempt on Thursday and faces possible arrest after she snubbed for the second time the Senate investigation on her alleged links to illegal POGOs.

“I am confident that the Supreme Court will issue guidelines to determine if a senator violates the Constitution as there is a penal sanction. We have a law on the people’s right to due process,” David added.

Dirty money

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian welcomed the freeze order, saying it is proof of Guo’s involvement in laundering billions of money traced to illegal offshore gaming activities.

Dirty money went in and out of 36 bank accounts under Guo’s name between 2019 to 2022, the period of constructing and operating a POGO complex on a Tarlac property of Baofu Land Development, a real estate firm Guo owned with two other incorporators, Huang and Lin. 

Huang and Lin’s bank accounts were also among the total 90 accounts ordered frozen by the CA. Huang is a Chinese fugitive, while Lin is a Chinese national who has pleaded guilty to charges of involvement in Singapore’s multibillion-dollar money laundering case.

“Billions of money went to the Alice Guo accounts in a span of three years, traced to individuals and entities. Money laundering is the criminal angle here just based on the flow of money which could be used for bribing people and corruption,” Gatchalian said at a virtual press briefing yesterday.

The senator could not put a ballpark figure on the money that went to Guo’s bank accounts, only that it amounts to “billions” of dirty money.

There was indication of money laundering because the Guo family-related companies on farming and embroidery registered losses, casting doubt on the P6.1-billion construction of the sprawling 10-hectare POGO complex in Bamban, Gatchalian said. 

The bank accounts of the Guo family-related companies – QJJ Farm, QJJ Embroidery Center, Westcars, QSeed Genetics and 3Lin Q Farm – were among the 90 bank accounts frozen.

The Baofu POGO complex has 37 buildings and is located just behind the Bamban town hall, where Guo sat as mayor before her suspension. The complex was raided for online scams, hacking and human trafficking last March.

The fact that the court also froze Guo’s 12 landholdings, 12 motor vehicles and a helicopter indicates that these were also purchased with dirty money, the senator added.

“Her accounts and assets were frozen because she could not justify the source of her funds. The Anti-Money Laundering Council report is very detailed as to where the money came from, of which a bulk was from China that went to her accounts and then to different individuals and corporations,” Gatchalian said.

He brushed aside the claims of Guo’s counsel that the AMLC violated her right to privacy by disclosing her bank accounts and assets.

Gatchalian said he suspected Guo had cohorts in the banks where she held accounts, because the suspicious transactions between 2019 and 2022 were only flagged by AMLC two years later.

“The Bamban POGO case really is an eye opener. While the Philippines has become a money laundering haven, this AMLC case is a sign that our law enforcers are effective in going after those behind criminal activities,” he said.

Gatchalian said he plans to file a resolution seeking to investigate the lapses in the banking processes that allowed money launderers to evade detection. 

He said there are no compliance offices in the bank branch, and that reports of suspicious transactions are still being forwarded to headquarters, resulting in a “time gap” that syndicates abuse to launder money.

Mental health

Sen. Nancy Binay urged Senate committees holding their respective investigations in aid of legislation to remain vigilant against the misuse of health issues or the use of mental health as a convenient excuse to avoid congressional inquiries and investigations.

Binay pointed out a concerning trend of attempting to use mental health as a way to avoid appearing before the Senate, after Guo failed to attend the Senate hearing last Wednesday.

Guo wrote a letter of explanation to the Senate asking to be excused from the ongoing POGO investigation due to health and mental concerns.

Binay noted that Guo’s non-appearance before the Senate sends a dangerous message that mental health can be manipulated as a legal shield, potentially leading to further stigmatization of mental health conditions. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Sheila Crisostomo