A representative of the Philippine Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has said the body will investigate some of the country’s casinos after allegations that they may be linked to money-laundering activities involving officials under probe for irregularities in flood control projects.
On Tuesday, Philippine senator Panfilo Lacson said several former officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) lost more than PHP950 million (US$16.6 million) in casinos across the country. He cited information contained in documents provided by the country’s casino regulator, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor).
“Based on the documents we obtained from Pagcor, the casino losses of these five individuals are staggering, totalling PHP950 million in gross losses,” stated the senator.
He added: “These are based on official and validated records from no less than 13 casinos located in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga.”
Senator Lacson also said the dealings by the former officials at those casinos may point to a scheme to launder ill-gotten funds from what he described as anomalous flood control projects.
The executive director of the AMLC, Matthew David, said – in remarks during television programme “24 Oras” – that the council would probe the casinos mentioned in the case.
“There is a corresponding penalty under our rules on administrative cases against covered persons. There’s a table of penalties for that, depending on the possible violation we find,” Mr David said, according to the GMA News Online outlet.
Philippine casinos – identified as “covered persons” – are required to automatically report to the council transactions worth PHP5 million or above. They also have to make all players present an identity document and must keep records of such customers’ gambling activity for at least five years as part of a regulatory framework on anti-money laundering for the casino sector introduced in 2017.
