Flagged transactions of Sara Duterte ‘linked’ to flood control, drugs – AMLC

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'To be fair to the AMLC, they simply received this report from a covered institution.... They are merely mirroring the report submitted to them by a covered institution,' Escudero clarifies

MANILA, Philippines – The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has flagged financial transactions of Vice President Sara Duterte allegedly related to the flood control issue and illegal drugs, the House prosecution team said on Monday, October 5.

During his direct examination, AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura testified on AMLC’s Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) related to the couple’s financial transactions.

Asked by prosecutor Mae Divinagracia, Buenaventura read the reason cited in an STR dated November 15, 2019: “Based on records, as reported by the covered person, the reason indicated is graft and corrupt practices” related to the Department of Public Works and Highways’ (DPWH) flood control issue. Another STR for Duterte, dated August 1, 2024, mentioned alleged “shabu (metampethamine) importation.”

The AMLC is the Philippine government’s financial intelligence unit tasked to implement Republic Act No. 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). AMLC specifically looks into two types of transactions and issues corresponding reports: covered transaction reports (CTRs) and STRs.

CTRs are automatically triggered if a financial transaction reaches P500,000 within a single day. Meanwhile, STRs are triggered not because of amount threshold, but because of certain conditions.

The law lists down the circumstances that include cases where customer cannot be properly identified; the amount is inconsistent with the person’s financial capacity; transactions appear structured to avoid reporting requirements, and the transaction appears connected to an unlawful activity, among other reasons.

However, it must be noted that transactions flagged or reported by AMLC do not automatically mean that money was illegal or if a crime has been committed. The reporting is just part of the AMLC’s mandate to monitor financial transactions and implement the AMLA.

Based on the summary of reports submitted by the AMLC to the Senate impeachment court, Duterte has 373 CTRs and 34 STRs, while her husband has 363 CTRs and 30 STRs. When combined, the transactions amount to P4.4 billion, based on the summary.

Screenshot/Senate impeachment court

During the presentation of the STRs, some senators interjected and raised concerns on the context behind the STRs. Specifically, why covered persons or bodies — like financial institutions — use media reports for the STRs.

“We don’t even know the context of that. We don’t even know. Honestly, we don’t even know that banks do that,” Senator-judge Pia Cayetano said.

Senator-judge Alan Peter Cayetano raised the same concern.

“To be fair to the AMLC, they simply received this report from a covered institution. As earlier asked by the Chair, this did not come from them. They are merely mirroring the report submitted to them by a covered institution. And that covert institutions at times do submit it based on available information, whether from news or media reports or other information,” presiding officer Chiz Escudero clarified.

Cale88 in spotlight

Divinagracia also asked Buenaventura about the CTRs related to Cale88, a firm allegedly connected to Carpio. The prosecution alleged that there were inward remittances to Cale88 from China and other countries.

Based on the summary, there were 141 CTRs and 3 STRs involving China remittances. The total remittance reached P319 million, including remittances from Hong Kong.

On Friday, October 2, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed that Cale88 allegedly got P319 million from “Chinese government and corporations.” Trillanes made this allegation the same week the prosecution dropped him from its list of witnesses.

But during the Monday hearing, defense lawyer Mark Vinluan, during his cross-examination of Buenaventura, reiterated that the issuance of CTRs do not necessarily mean that the transactions were illegal per se.

“For the record, transaction that is reported as a covered transaction is not necessarily an illegal transaction, correct?” Vinluan asked.

“Tama po (Correct),” Buenaventura replied. – Rappler.com