AMLC: Freeze order issued for 'prominent lawmaker' tagged in flood control scam

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The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) on Thursday said that it has secured a freeze order against a “prominent lawmaker” in connection with the flood control scam.

In a statement, the AMLC said that the Court of Appeals (CA) issued a freeze order after finding probable cause that the assets were related to plunder.

The Council said that the freeze order covered “assets linked to a prominent lawmaker, a corporation, and several associated individuals and entities in connection with alleged anomalies involving flood control projects and a broader government budget kickback scheme.”

The financial investigation showed that the individuals had no apparent operating revenues to support the scale of the investments.

According to the AMLC, the money involved in the investments was also moved through multiple layers with the use of intermediaries, corporations, bank accounts, a money service business, and a virtual asset platform.

“The use of multiple recipients and financial channels complicated the tracing of the funds and increased their transactional distance from their alleged source. The AMLC traced these transactions to funds allegedly associated with corruption and plunder cases involving the lawmaker,” the Council said.

The CA’s freeze order covered 86 bank accounts, four investment accounts, one insurance policy, and 25 virtual asset wallets.

The AMLC said that the probe showed the increasing use of financial technology used to move suspected illicit funds.

In the lawmaker’s case, the allegedly illicit funds were funneled through virtual asset service providers and multiple virtual asset wallets.

“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 Council said.

There are several lawmakers involved in the flood control scheme, with one senator already being detained as he faced plunder charges. Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is currently detained at the Quezon City Jail for allegedly receiving kickbacks.

Meanwhile, former House lawmaker Zaldy Co has been on the run from Philippine authorities after he was tagged as a mastermind in the flood control scheme. Estrada and Co are only two of the lawmakers named in connection with the flood control scheme. —LDF, GMA News