{"id":777031594,"date":"2025-09-12T08:34:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T11:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777031594"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:13:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:13:41","slug":"philippine-casinos-face-amlc-probe-amid-money-laundering-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/philippine-casinos-face-amlc-probe-amid-money-laundering-scandal","title":{"rendered":"Philippine casinos face AMLC probe amid money laundering scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Casinos will be investigated alongside former DPWH officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Anti-Money Laundering Council<\/strong> (AMLC) has launched an investigation into several Philippine casinos following allegations of their involvement in a major money laundering scheme<\/strong>. Executive director Matthew David<\/strong> confirmed the body will scrutinise the casinos for potential violations of anti-money laundering regulations. The AMLC plans to request a Court of Appeals freeze order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classified as \u201ccovered persons,\u201d casinos must report transactions of PHP5m (US$87,000) or more and verify customer identities. David said penalties could be imposed for non-compliance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claims involve a group of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, dubbed the \u201cBulacan Group of Contractors\u201d or \u201cBGC Boys,\u201d accused of laundering over PHP1bn (US$18.3m) through 13 casinos<\/a> in Metro Manila, Cebu, and Pampanga between 2023 and 2025. Including Brice Ericson Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Henry Alcantara, Arjay Domasig, and contractor Edrick San Diego, they allegedly used fake identities to convert illicit funds into casino chips<\/strong>, engaged in minimal or no play, and cashed out the chips as supposed gambling winnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The scheme is allegedly linked to fraudulent flood control projects in Bulacan, where funds were allegedly misappropriated through rigged bidding, falsified reports, and substandard or non-existent projects. The group reportedly incurred PHP950m (US$17.4m) in casino losses, raising suspicions of deliberate laundering.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Malaysia police arrest 43 for alleged illegal cockfighting operations<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casinos will be investigated alongside former DPWH officials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":10459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in the Philippines has launched an investigation into multiple casinos for alleged involvement in a PHP1 billion money laundering scheme. This probe targets casinos classified as \"covered persons\" for potential non-compliance with AML regulations, with a Court of Appeals freeze order being sought. The scheme, linked to former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials, allegedly involved converting illicit funds from fraudulent public works projects into casino chips and cashing them out as winnings.","focusai_entities":"Anti-Money Laundering Council, AMLC, Department of Public Works and Highways, DPWH, Bulacan Group of Contractors, BGC Boys, Brice Ericson Hernandez, Jaypee Mendoza, Henry Alcantara, Arjay Domasig, Edrick San Diego","focusai_location":"The Philippines, Metro Manila, Cebu, Pampanga, Bulacan","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.95), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (1.0), tech_data (0.75), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"AMLC Investigation Impact","query":"What specific enhancements to their AML governance frameworks and internal controls will Philippine casino operators be compelled to implement following this AMLC investigation?"},{"label":"Regulatory Compliance Outlook","query":"How might this high-profile AML enforcement action influence the broader regulatory compliance landscape and licensing conditions for both B2B and B2C iGaming entities operating or seeking entry into the Philippine market?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[12436,4503,24764,24804],"class_list":["post-777031594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-casinos","tag-legal","tag-money-laundering","tag-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777031594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777031594"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777031594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777031613,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777031594\/revisions\/777031613"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777031594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777031594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777031594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}