AMLC freezes assets linked to flood mess

MNILA, Philippines — The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has secured another court order freezing more than 100 financial accounts and other assets linked to a lawmaker and several individuals and entities allegedly involved in corruption, plunder and flood control project anomalies.

The Court of Appeals (CA) issued the freeze order on Sept. 21 after finding probable cause that the assets were related to plunder under Republic Act 7080, according to the AMLC.

A freeze order temporarily prevents covered assets from being withdrawn, transferred or disposed of while authorities investigate their possible links to unlawful activities.

The order covers 86 bank accounts, four investment accounts, one insurance policy and 25 virtual asset wallets, or digital accounts used to hold and transfer virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies.

According to the AMLC, the use of multiple recipients and financial channels made the funds harder to trace and increased their transactional distance from their alleged source. The council said the transactions were traced to funds allegedly linked to corruption and plunder cases involving the lawmaker.

The AMLC did not identify the lawmaker, the company or the other parties covered by the order.

In an earlier response to The STAR, the council said it is legally barred from disclosing information that could reveal the identities of persons or entities covered by freeze order proceedings.

The latest case also highlights the increasing use of newer financial channels in transactions involving suspected illicit funds.

The AMLC said funds in the case passed through virtual asset service providers and multiple virtual asset wallets, adding layers that made their movement more difficult to trace.

“The AMLC will continue working closely with partner agencies and financial service providers to identify, trace, restrain and recover suspected illicit assets, while preventing the misuse of both traditional and emerging financial channels for corruption, money laundering,” it said.