Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Senators are pushing for the inclusion of casinos in the watch list of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
They said that the $81-million money laundering scandal could have been prevented if gamblers were covered by the Anti-Money Laundering Law, which forbids the hiding of illegally obtained money.
“Whatever the standards are for reporting, ang importante dito [ay] dapat ma-cover yung casinos,” said Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
[Translation: “Whatever the standards are for reporting, what’s important here is that casinos are covered.”]
Casinos were supposed to be included in the Amended Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2013.
Casino owners, however, successfully lobbied against it. Guingona said casinos are like a “black hole” where laundered money can be left untraced.
“Once it’s in the casino, parang it’s a dark cave. It’s just one big dark cave; It’s a black hole — you can’t trace it anymore.”
An AMLC report said the stolen money of the Bangladesh central bank was funneled into Solaire and Eastern Hawaii casinos.
But the hot money is nowhere to be found. The government cannot compel casinos to report client records.
For Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, the law is strong enough but its implementation is weak: “Ang whole track ng AMLC is kulang yung batas ng anti-money laundering. Pero pag makikita mo sa mga bangko hindi kuang ang batas, yung implementation yung problema. I don’t want to go too hard on AMLC because they’re doing a great job in some aspects.”
[Translation: “AMLC’s whole track is that the Anti-Money Laundering is lacking. But if you look at the banks, the laws are not lacking — the implementation is the problem. I don’t want to go too hard on AMLC because they’re doing a great job in some aspects.”]
The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), meanwhile, said the inclusion of casinos in the Anti-Money Laundering Law is unnecessary.
PAGCOR Chairperson Cristino Naguiat pointed out the illicit money can be laundered in banks even before it goes to casinos.
“The results of the investigation into the money laundering scandal can serve as a basis for legislation in the next congress. In the meantime, the government has to deal with the fallout from this heist that has put the spotlight on the country’s controversial bank secrecy law and in the news around the world.”
