Man arrested in Cagayan de Oro for alleged links to offshore gaming operators

The Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration says it has arrested a Chinese man.

The Philippines.- The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has reported that it has arrested a Chinese man allegedly connected to Tony Yang, an alleged associate of Alice Guo and the owner of Phil-Sanjia, a company that is being investigated for alleged ties with offshore gaming operators.

Xu Shiyan was arrested in Pasay City on May 21. Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said Melody Penelope Gonzales, head of the BI’s Mindanao Intelligence Task Group (MITG), had identified Xu is an incorporator of Phil-Sanjia. Authorities seized a birth certificate, PhilSys slips, SSS and UMID forms, a Postal ID, a TIN ID, driver’s licence and a COMELEC registration slip.

Viado said: “We will not allow foreign nationals to abuse our systems, falsify their identities, and use Philippine documents to cover their tracks. The Bureau is fully committed to supporting the President’s campaign to rid the country of criminal elements linked to illegal offshore gaming operators.”

DOJ files 62 money laundering charges against Alice Guo

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other government agencies filed 62 money laundering charges against Alice Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, and 30 others. The charges follow a multi-agency investigation led by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) into the alleged illegal activities of an offshore gaming operator in her municipality.

The charges include 26 counts under Section 4(a) and five counts under Section 4(b) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, involving transactions with funds linked to unlawful activity and their subsequent conversion or use. All 31 are facing charges under Section 4(d) for conspiring to commit money laundering offences. It’s the eighth case against Guo, who is also facing human trafficking charges and filings for falsification of public documents. 

The DOJ is looking into four more complaints against Guo, including falsifying documents as a notary public, lying under oath, obstructing justice, breaking the Anti-Dummy Law related to properties in Pangasinan and qualified trafficking and graft involving staff from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). Guo is set to testify on May 28 in the qualified trafficking case pending before Pasig RTC Branch 167.