AMLC freezes suspected laundering accounts

The anti-money Laundering Council (AMLC) has implemented a freeze order on several bank accounts suspected of being linked to a money laundering transaction worth as much as $100 million—said to  be the single largest transaction of “dirty money” uncovered in the country.

Inquirer sources said the AMLC sent freeze orders to several financial institutions for several bank accounts that effectively stopped the movement of funds into or out of them.

“AMLC sent [banks] a list of accounts [on Tuesday] ordering a freeze on all activities in them,” the source said, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing probe.

At the same time, however, banking officials familiar with the issue expressed doubts if authorities would be able to seize the bulk of the funds suspected to have been obtained through illegal means abroad, given that the money was suspected to have entered the local financial system as early as the first week of February and may have already been withdrawn within a few days.

“It looks like the funds have already been repatriated overseas by this time,” said another banking source familiar with the issue.

The Inquirer earlier reported that as much as $100 million in allegedly illicit funds entered the local financial system through an inward remittance that was processed at a Makati branch of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., then converted to pesos with the help of a foreign exchange and remittance firm called Philrem, and then transferred to Solaire, Midas and City of Dreams for the use of a Macau-based client of a Filipino-Chinese junket operator.

Regulators were alerted to its suspicious origins when foreign governments alerted the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that the money might have been obtained through fraud committed by computer hackers in Bangladesh. A ranking RCBC official also said that the bank filed suspicious transaction reports once it got wind of the transfer.

Meanwhile, the state-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) yesterday said there were sufficient safeguards in the casino industry to prevent money laundering and shifted the spotlight on banks, saying financial institutions should have more stringent “know-your-customer” rules.

In a statement, Pagcor said it started its own investigation last Feb. 29 after a report on the alleged money laundering activity was published in the Inquirer.

“Pagcor expects the casinos to submit their comments on the allegation as an initial step in the investigation within this week,” the statement from the gaming regulator said, adding that “as a matter of regulation, Pagcor requires casinos to employ strict internal control policies on funds movements and issuances of playing chips.”

“In addition, casinos implement ‘know your customer’ protocols particularly with regard to high-value patrons,” it added. “Records of financial transactions are available for scrutiny by Pagcor on demand.”