The senator leading an ongoing probe into the Philippines’ POGO industry has called for a new inquiry into the alleged failure by banks to flag suspicious transactions related to offshore gaming operations.
According to the Inquirer, the investigation has been proposed by Senator Sherwin Gatchalian through Senate Resolution No. 1193, which was filed last week and notes the requirement by financial institutions under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 to report suspicious transactions within five working days.
The resolution also points out that, despite this requirement, it has been discovered in recent weeks that companies owned by “POGO mayor” Alice Guo were involved in bank transactions amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos and which contributed to the construction of a POGO hub in her former town of Bamban.
“Such [an] amount is far beyond what the financial statements indicated in the financial capacity of these companies,” the Inquirer reported Gatchalian sa saying.
Guo, whose real name is Guo Hua Ping, served as mayor of Bamban in Tarlac from June 2022 before she was linked to the operation of an illegal POGO hub operating within her municipality. She was earlier this month arrested in Indonesia and deported back to the Philippines, having fled the country amid ongoing investigations into the nature of her involvement.
According to Gatchalian, almost Php5 billion had been deposited into the accounts of Guo and her companions since 2018, allegedly proving her active involvement in POGO operations.
His resolution notes a “remarkable surge of cash flows, check disbursements, and several transactions involving said Guo accounts, which was allegedly highest in 2020” and which he said was “highly unusual and suspicious.”
“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 the matter of the effectiveness of their internal controls and procedures for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions.”
The Philippine News Agency also reported Tuesday that authorities are now investigation a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief for allegedly accepting bribes from POGOs to help Guo flee the country.
“There are talks within the intelligence community, but there is no confirmation or witnesses yet if someone was actually paid but that is the talk now. But they’re still validating it,” said PAGCOR SVP for security Raul Villanueva during the Senate hearing on illegal POGOs.
“I think it was mentioned, a former PNP chief. I don’t know who.”
POGOs have been in the spotlight since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr announced during his State of the Nation Address in July that he would ban the offshore gaming industry, promising to shut down all existing operations by 1 January 2025.
