The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is conducting an investigation into banks that handled transactions for dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo but failed to report them.
During the budget deliberations in the Senate on Monday, AMLC officials confirmed the active probe and relayed their response to Senator Grace Poe, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance.
In the 2025 budget deliberations, Senator Joel Villanueva called out the AMLC for its failure to intercept the alleged transactions of Guo.
These are the alleged billions of pesos that flowed into various companies connected to Guo, which are believed to have been used to establish a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in the town of Bamban.
According to AMLC officials, they did not monitor the incoming funds because the banks did not report them to the agency.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian stated that, based on their assessment, more than P6 billion was spent on building the POGO hub.
Meanwhile, AMLC officials assured that their investigation is progressing, with 87 counts of money laundering charges already filed against Guo.
AMLC regulations stipulate that banks must report transactions of P500,000, P1 million for jewelers, P5 million for casinos, and P7.5 million for real estate companies.
