The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has secured another Court of Appeals freeze order covering 86 bank accounts and 25 virtual asset wallets linked to a prominent lawmaker and several individuals and entities in connection with alleged corruption involving flood control projects.
The September 21 order also covers four investment accounts and one insurance policy linked to the lawmaker, a corporation and associated individuals and entities, the AMLC said.
The appellate court issued the order after finding probable cause that the assets were related to plunder under Republic Act No. 7080.
The AMLC did not identify the individuals and entities covered by the order or disclose the value of the frozen assets.
Its financial investigation found that some individuals held investments despite having no apparent operating revenues to support their scale.
The AMLC said funds linked to the investments were moved through layers of intermediaries, corporations, bank accounts, a money service business and a virtual asset platform, complicating efforts to trace them back to their alleged source.
Investigators traced the transactions to funds allegedly linked to corruption and plunder involving the lawmaker, according to the AMLC.
The probe also found that funds passed through virtual asset service providers and multiple virtual asset wallets, highlighting the use of emerging financial channels in transactions involving suspected illicit funds.
“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, and other unlawful activities,” the financial intelligence unit said.
The latest action follows a separate freeze order secured by the AMLC on August 25 covering 55 bank accounts and four insurance policies belonging to a lawmaker associated with government contracts for projects worth billions of pesos.
