Gatchalian to pursue probe on banks' 'negligence' on money laundering tied to Alice Guo

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday said that he will pursue the investigation into local banks' accountability on their supposed "negligence" of the alleged money laundering activities linked to dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.

"We will pursue that... 'Yan ang isang anggulo na hindi nabigyan ng spotlight but money laundering is equally as big of a crime that POGOs has perpetuated. So dapat tignan din natin 'yan in detail," Gatchalian said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum.

(That is one angle that was not given the spotlight during the investigation, but money laundering is equally as big of a crime that POGOs has perpetuated. So we must look at this in detail.)

"Katulad ng sinabi ko paano nakapasok ang P7 billion nang 'di nade-detect ng AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council) at bakit hindi dine-declare ng bangko...Definitely, merong pagkukulang." he said, noting that P500,000 worth of deposit is a transaction that is automatically flagged by banks.

(Like what I mentioned, how could P7 billion be deposited without the AMLC detecting it? And why was it not declared by the banks? Definitely, there is negligence there.)

In September 2024, Gatchalian has filed a resolution seeking to investigate the apparent failure of local banks to flag POGO-related suspicious transactions linked to criminal activities in the country.

Senate Resolution 1193 was filed amid the investigation on Guo who was also tagged as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.

In the said resolution, Gatchalian noted the existence of bank transactions involving Guo’s companies amounting to "hundreds of millions of pesos" which supposedly enabled the construction and establishment of the POGO hub in Bamban, the town where Guo was then mayor of.

Such an amount is far beyond what the financial statements indicated in the financial capacity of these companies, Gatchalian noted.

"These transactions involving significant amounts of money were coursed through the banking system and unfortunately, were not flagged by the concerned banks and financial institutions," Gatchalian said.

"Such failure of these banks to report these dubious transactions raises matter of the effectiveness of their internal controls and procedures for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions," he added.

During the earlier Senate investigation into Guo's links to POGOs, Gatchalian disclosed that billions of supposedly "unjustified" money went into the bank accounts of the dismissed mayor from 2019 to 2022.

In disclosing this information, Gatchalian suspected a possible connivance with local banks.

Guo is currently facing 87 counts of money laundering cases, which involved around P7 billion, before the Department of Justice. —RF, GMA Integrated News