The Philippines’ Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) told lawmakers on Wednesday that bank reports linked to Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, contain “red flag indicators” and suspicious transactions, as the House Committee on Justice continued its third impeachment hearing.
AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura confirmed under questioning, that subpoenaed covered transaction reports (CTRs) and suspicious transaction reports (STRs) submitted to the committee showed potentially irregular activity.
Lawmakers pressed the agency on whether the existence of such reports indicated anomalies. Buenaventura acknowledged that the documents carried red flag indicators and confirmed that these covered the respondents under investigation.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the AMLC’s appearance and submission of records suggested the presence of suspicious patterns, a point the agency affirmed.
“Kung wala kayo nakitang anomalya o red flag sa inyong opisina, wala sana kayo rito no, as you have indicated earlier,” Adiong said.
“Ang inyong pagpunta rito at pagsumite ng mga dokumento ay patunay na may red flag indicators,” he added.
Data presented during the hearing showed that the total amount of covered and suspicious transactions linked to Duterte and Carpio reached about 6.77 billion pesos, based on bank reports.
Of the total, Duterte’s accounts accounted for 313 CTRs and 17 STRs, involving about 3.77 billion pesos. These included inflows of approximately 1.83 billion pesos and outflows of about 1.21 billion pesos.
Carpio’s accounts, meanwhile, recorded 317 CTRs and 16 STRs totaling nearly 3 billion pesos, with inflows of about 2.59 billion pesos and outflows of around 343.3 million pesos.
Combined, the transactions included 630 CTRs and 33 STRs, with total inflows of about 4.43 billion pesos and outflows of roughly 1.55 billion pesos. Around 791.1 million pesos in transactions were classified as undetermined.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin further asked whether the AMLC’s financial intelligence report specified reasons for flagging the transactions. To which Buenaventura replied that such reports identify potential links to predicate crimes under the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
He said these may include offenses such as bribery, corruption, fraud, drug-related crimes, kidnapping for ransom, plunder, robbery and extortion, illegal gambling, and tax violations.
The AMLC also reported that Duterte’s accounts generated hundreds of large and suspicious transactions over two decades, with individual transactions reaching as high as 55.16 million pesos.
Additional transactions involving third-party accounts where Duterte was identified as a beneficiary or counterparty were also recorded.
