Press Release - Gatchalian plans to file resolution to probe banks' failure to flag POGO-related suspicious transactions

Senator Win Gatchalian said he plans to file a resolution to investigate the apparent failure of banks to flag financial transactions that may have allowed unscrupulous individuals to establish Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) linked to criminal activities in the country.

"Money laundering is one of the biggest crimes committed in the POGO hubs that were raided," Gatchalian said. For instance, he noted that companies owned by Guo Hua Ping, also known as Alice Guo, were involved in bank transactions amounting to hundreds of millions of pesos which may have enabled her to construct and establish the POGO hub in Bamban.

"Bakit umabot ng apat hanggang limang taon bago naimbestigahan? If the banks had complied with the requirements of the anti-money laundering law, this would have been nipped in the bud," Gatchalian pointed out, noting that suspicious transactions involving Guo companies started as early as 2019.

The senator surmised that companies set up by the Guo family, such as QJJ Farms and QJJ Embroidery, were likely used as conduits for money laundering to fund the construction of the POGO hub in Bamban, estimated to have cost over P6 billion.

According to Gatchalian, bank transactions involving Guo companies amounted to hundreds of millions of pesos - far beyond what their financial statements indicated as their financial capacity.

"If you examine the financial statements of Guo-related businesses, including their tax returns, you won't be able to trace where the money came from. For me, this is a classic case of money laundering, as we cannot detect the source of funds," he said.

Gatchalian highlighted the money laundering case that the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) filed against Guo and 35 others. The case involves funds, initially intended to pay Baofu Land Development's electricity bills, which were systematically laundered through multiple bank accounts to conceal their illicit origins. Baofu is the property developer that owns the land where the POGO hub in Bamban was constructed. "The bigger crime is how they were able to erect buildings, and we still don't know how the money came in. I'm sure the same thing happened in the Porac