Philippines' dismissed mayor Alice Guo charged with 62 counts of money laundering
MANILA: The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed 62 counts of money laundering cases against dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo.
Guo, who is currently detained at the Pasig City Jail, is charged with 26 counts of violating Section 4(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) for conducting transactions involving monetary instruments or property derived from unlawful activity.
She also faces five counts of violation of Section 4(b) of the same law for converting, transferring, acquiring, or using such instruments or property.
Alice, together with her parents Jian Zhong Guo and Lin Wenyi and siblings Shiela and Seimen, and 26 others who are officials of companies involved in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo) operations, are facing a case for violating section 4 (d) of the same law for conspiring to commit money laundering offenses.
Based on the 48-page resolution issued by the DOJ panel of prosecutors early this year, the proceeds from the Pogo activities inside Baofu compound owned by Guo's real estate company were transferred to other legitimate businesses of the Guo family.
Baofu had been the subject of three search warrants due to illegal activities being conducted by Hongsheng, a Pogo operator, such as online gambling, internet fraud, and other cybercrime operations.
Following a raid conducted in 2023, authorities arrested over 300 foreign nationals, mostly Chinese citizens.
Another raid was conducted on March 13, 2024, against Zun Yuan, which took over Baofu operations after Hongsheng due to its alleged involvement in labour trafficking, cryptocurrency scams, love scams, and investment fraud.
Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon confirmed that the case filed on Friday (May 23) before the Capas court was from the resolution released last January.
'Because the number of information (charge sheets) that had to be prepared and its attachments, it took a while to file,' he said.
The money laundering case marks the eighth case filed against Guo, who is already facing charges of qualified trafficking in persons, civil forfeiture, graft, material misrepresentation, and falsification of public documents.
Four additional cases are under preliminary investigation by the DOJ, covering alleged falsification by a notary public, perjury, and obstruction of justice, violations of the Anti-Dummy Law involving Pangasinan properties (two cases), qualified trafficking, and graft involving personnel of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
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