Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 15) — Telco giant Globe Telecom, Inc. is seeking the passage of a bill that will put to jail so-called “money mules,” giving existing cybercrime and dirty money laws more teeth.
Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu told a virtual press briefing on Tuesday that persons who sell their SIM or subscriber identity module, as well as their accounts with the bank or with Globe’s digital payments app GCash, should be considered an accomplice to cybercrimes.
“Right now, people do not value or do not put a lot of emphasis on their identity being used in crimes. They register their SIM and then they sell it to someone. They’ll register a GCash account and sell it to someone, get a bank account and sell it,” said Cu.
“These are things that really should be made a criminal offense in this country. Because you are aiding in the commitment of a crime. That should be stopped through a law that we are also pushing Congress to enact,” he added.
In the past Congress, the influential Bankers Association of the Philippines also wanted lawmakers to pass House Bill 9615, or the proposed Bank Account and E-wallet Regulation Act, to criminalize actions of those serving as a money mule.
The Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 prohibits the use of bank accounts for crimes such as money laundering or funneling money stolen from victims. But under that law, those who sold or lent intentionally or unintentionally their bank accounts would end up just a victim or an unwilling accomplice to the crime.
Globe said it logged nearly 54 million registered SIM as of July 30, the end of the five-day grace period following seven months of registration. That’s over 1.2 million higher than the nearest competition, it said in a press release.
Net profit in the first half fell 27% due to increased depreciation expense and a decline in non-operating income.
Globe recast its service revenue guidance for 2023 from “mid-single digit growth” to “mid-to-low single digit growth” from 2022 levels.
“This adjustment takes into account the extended inflationary environment that weakened the Filipino consumers’ purchasing power, coupled with the continued decline in our legacy broadband business,” its statement read.
