FAST FACTS: The Anti-Money Laundering Council

The AMLC serves as the countrys financial intelligence unit, which has both investigative and
prosecutorial powers. Get to know the agency more.

Reynaldo Santos Jr

@reysantosjr

Published 10:30 AM, May 28, 2015

Updated 6:06 PM, May 30, 2015

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MANILA, Philippines The probe into the alleged ill-gotten wealth of Vice President Jejomar Binay
resurfaced with the freeze order brought by the investigation of the Anti-Money Laundering Council
(AMLC).

AMLC findings reveal that Binay, his wife Elenita, their son Makati Mayor Jejomar Erwin Junjun Binay Jr,
and alleged dummies had large and frequent bank transactions from 2008 to 2014, leading the Court
of Appeals to issue a freeze order on their bank accounts.

It was a probe that the Binay camp had sought to stop as early as March.
The AMLC was created through Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). It is tasked
to implement both the AMLA and Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and
Suppression Act.

It serves as the countrys financial intelligence unit (FIU), similar to that of other countries like the
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the US and the Intelligence Processing and Action
against Illicit Financial Networks Unit (TRACFIN) of France.

Unlike other FIUs, however, AMLC carries both investigative and prosecutorial powers.

Composition

Section 7 of RA9160 states that AMLC shall be composed of:

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor as chairman

Insurance Commission (IC) commissioner as member

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman as member

Apart from these 3, AMLC is assisted by a Secretariat headed by an executive director to be appointed
for a term of 5 years. Section 8 of AMLA states that the executive director must be a lawyer and at least
35 years old. The current executive director of AMLC is Julia Bacay-Abad.

AMLA also states that members of the Secretariat must have served for at least 5 years in either the BSP,
IC, or SEC. They are all considered regular employees of BSP and are entitled to benefits and subject to
rules and regulations applicable to BSP employees of similar rank.

Based on the 2013 AMLC report, most of its Secretariat personnel, especially the financial investigators,
had a law enforcement background from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Philippine
National Police (PNP), and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
Prosecution of money laundering

One of the main tasks of AMLC is to penalize those who launder money, the act of attempting to conceal
the illegal nature of proceeds from unlawful activities such as:

kidnapping for ransom

drug trafficking and related offenses

graft and corrupt practices

plunder

robbery and extortion

jueteng and masiao

piracy

qualified theft

swindling

smuggling

violations under the Electronic Commerce Act of 2000

hijacking; destructive arson; and murder, including those perpetrated by terrorists against non-
combatant persons and similar targets

fraudulent practices and other violations under the Securities Regulation Code of 2000

felonies or offenses of a similar nature that are punishable under the penal laws of other countries

terrorism financing and organizing or directing others to commit terrorism financing (RA 10168)

attempt/conspiracy to commit terrorism financing and organizing or directing others to commit

terrorism financing (RA 10168)

attempt/conspiracy to commit dealing with property or funds of designated person

accomplice to terrorism financing or conspiracy to commit terrorism financing

accessory to terrorism financing

Part of the AMLC's functions is to require covered institutions to submit "covered or suspicious
transaction reports". These covered institutions include:

Banks and all other entities supervised and regulated by the BSP

Insurance companies, pre-need companies, and all other institutions supervised or regulated by the IC

Securities dealers and other entities supervised or regulated by the SEC

When AMLC finds there is probable cause to charge any person with money laundering, it files a
complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman or the Department of Justice, which shall then conduct a
further investigation. These agencies then file the necessary case before the Sandiganbayan or the
Regional Trial Courts.

In the 2013 report of the Commission on Audit (COA), it was revealed that the AMLC was able to "locate,
freeze and forfeit amounts of criminal proceeds" amounting to P3.95 billion. The agency was able to file
a total of 83 cases in 2013, including 22 bank inquiry cases, 5 petitions for civil forfeiture, and 6 petitions
for a freeze order.

Freeze order

The AMLC may file a freeze order on an account or property related to an unlawful activity. The freeze
order shall last for a period of 20 days unless extended by the court.

The original version of AMLA actually gives the AMLC the power to directly freeze certain assets and
accounts. This power, however, was removed with the passage in 2003 of an amendment via Republic
Act 9194, which mandates that freeze orders have to come from the Court of Appeals.

The depositor has 72 hours upon receipt of the notice to explain why the freeze order should be lifted.

AMLA states that "no court shall issue a temporary restraining order or writ of injunction against any
freeze order issued by the AMLC except the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court."
Among the freeze orders facilitated by the AMLC are:

July 3, 2008 freeze order on 70 bank accounts under the name of former agriculture undersecretary
Jocelyn "Joc-Joc" Bolante in relation with the fertilizer fund scam

June 7, 2011 freeze order on billions-worth of ill-gotten wealth belonging to members of the Ampatuan
family members implicated in the Maguindanao massacre

November 20, 2012 freeze order on accounts of officers of Aman Futures Group Philippines

December 2012 freeze order on 100 bank accounts linked to businessman Roberto Ongpin

August 17, 2013 freeze order on 415 accounts of Janet Lim Napoles and her associates

May 11, 2015 freeze order on 242 bank accounts owned by Vice President Jejomar Binay, his wife
Elenita, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Junjun Binay, several other associates and alleged dummies
of the Binays.

An implication of the 2003 amendment was seen in the case of former military comptrollers Carlos
Garcia and Jacinto Ligot, who were able to withdraw money just in time before the court's freeze order
was released.

In a Senate hearing in 2011, former AMLC executive director Vicente Aquino explained: "Before the
AMLC can get a freeze order from the CA, it has to go to its statutory counsel from the Office of the
Solicitor General before a petition to freeze is filed with the CA. By time of filing, many eyes have seen
the petition. Rappler.com

Filed under:amlaanti-money laundering actanti-money laundering councilcommission on auditjulia

bacay-abadmoney launderingoffice of the solicitor generalvicente aquinoa