AMLC raps vs Philrem lauded

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Sen. Teofisto Guingona III lauded yesterday the filing of criminal complaints against the executives of Philrem Service Corp., which he said “neutralized a key player in Philippine money laundering.”

In a statement, Guingona said the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC)’s filing of a criminal complaint against Philrem brings the government a step closer to recovering more of the funds stolen from the Bank of Bangladesh.

During the hearings of the Blue Ribbon committee on the $81-million money laundering case, Guingona and the other senators repeatedly reprimanded spouses Michael and Salud Bautista, owners of Philrem, for their inconsistent statements on how they handled the funds that were coursed through their company.

Casino junket operator Kim Wong claimed that Philrem still has $17 million of the $81 million that entered the country through the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).

In the complaint, AMLC cited malicious reporting, knowledge of illicit funds, possession of illicit funds and conversion and use of illicit funds as some of Philrem’s violations of the Anti-Money Laundering Law.

Guingona noted that the complaint also highlighted a glaring inconsistency on who instructed Philrem to transfer the stolen funds.

In the suspicious transaction report (STR) submitted by Philrem’s anti-money laundering compliance officer Anthony Pelejo on Feb. 17, he claimed that it was “a certain William Go.”

“The complaint against Philrem is a welcome development to the public, who have been following the investigation as if it were a crime thriller series. But more importantly, with the public knowing that these things do happen and that these things can be thwarted if we continue to push for pieces of legislation that will safeguard our financial system from future exploitation, then the Filipinos, especially our OFWs and their families, can have due protection of their hard-earned income,” Guingona said.

“We simply cannot ignore the blow that this money laundering scheme may cause to our laborers overseas. The brunt of de-risking measures that are already being implemented by foreign correspondent banks was only magnified by this flaw in our financial system.”

“Closure of legitimate remittance options, high remittance costs and recourse to informal money transfer are not the best show of gratitude for our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), and these are the scenarios that we aim to avoid,” Guingona said.