Former Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, alongside 31 co-defendants, now faces a complete of 62 cash laundering fees. The costs stem from their involvement in a bootleg Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub that was positioned in Bamban. In keeping with a press release from the Division of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday, the authorized panel dealing with the case beneficial submitting 26 counts of cash laundering towards Guo. These fees are based mostly on her alleged involvement in transactions that moved funds ensuing from illegal actions.
Cash laundering fees filed towards Guo and co-accused:
Guo, who additionally goes by the title Guo Hua Ping, is accused of utilizing her place and connections to facilitate these illicit monetary actions. In keeping with the Philippine Information Company, the DOJ’s spokesperson, Mico Clavano, defined that the fees filed towards Guo embody violations beneath two sections of the Anti-Cash Laundering Act (AMLA). The primary 26 counts are beneath Part 4(a), which pertains to the transaction of financial devices from illegal actions. Moreover, Guo faces 5 extra counts beneath Part 4(b) for the conversion, switch, or disposition of those unlawful proceeds.
Furthermore, the remaining 31 counts of cash laundering beneath Part 4(b) contain Guo and several other co-defendants who allegedly facilitated the motion of illicit funds. Nonetheless, not all fees leveled towards Guo and her associates had been upheld. A separate criticism towards Guo for allegedly concealing the origins of the funds was dismissed, as had been fees towards a number of people, together with lawyer Jason Masuerte and enterprise figures Nancy Gamo and Cassie Li Ong. The dismissal was based mostly on a scarcity of adequate proof for a conviction.
The investigation into Guo’s operations has uncovered hyperlinks to a wide range of felony actions, together with scams comparable to funding fraud, crypto scams, and love scams. Clavano highlighted that Guo and her accomplices allegedly profited from these schemes, with funds then getting used to amass varied belongings. Guo can be going through extra fees for human trafficking in relation to the June raid on the Bamban POGO hub, the place 800 staff—each Filipino and overseas nationals—had been rescued beneath dire circumstances.
On this case, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Company (PDEA) has prompt that POGOs just like the one in Bamban are linked to a bigger community of felony operations. These illicit actions reportedly contain drug syndicates and company fraud, making the POGO trade a big concern for regulation enforcement. The total extent of those operations remains to be being uncovered.
Guo’s arrest and worldwide efforts to apprehend her community:
The case has attracted vital consideration, significantly after Guo’s arrest in Jakarta final September. Guo had gone into hiding after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared an outright ban on the offshore gaming trade in July. She had initially fled to Malaysia and later to Singapore earlier than being tracked down in Indonesia. Regardless of her detention, Guo has pleaded not responsible to all fees.
Singapore regulation enforcement is cooperating with Philippine authorities in efforts to trace down Guo’s alleged associates, who’re believed to have performed a task in helping her flight from justice. Amongst these is Zhang Jie, a key determine in unlawful on-line gaming operations spanning each Singapore and the Philippines. Guo can be reportedly linked to Wu Duanren, a serious operator of a POGO in Porac, Pampanga. The 2 people are suspected of aiding Guo’s escape from the Philippines final 12 months.
The scope of the felony enterprise extends past Guo and her associates. Authorities have found connections to different high-profile cash laundering actions. Notably, Guo is alleged to have had dealings with Zhang Ruijin and Lin Baoying, a pair concerned in Singapore’s notorious multibillion-dollar cash laundering case. The couple was convicted on fees of cash laundering and forgery and deported to Cambodia after serving time in jail.
Regardless of President Marcos’s unqualified ban on the POGO trade in July, unlawful operations persist. On January 8, Philippine authorities raided one other illicit POGO facility, this one positioned in Parañaque Metropolis, Metro Manila. The raid led to the arrest of 400 overseas staff, and all have been positioned within the custody of the Nationwide Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
