Maniolas

Money turned over by casino junket operator Kim Wong to the Anti-Money Laundering Council after the $81-million money laundering scandal at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. erupted. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA — The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has filed criminal charges against the former treasurer of the Yuchenco-led Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) and five other officials for alleged money laundering in connection with the entry of money stolen from Bangladesh’s central bank last February. In its 97-page complaint filed before the Department of Justice on Nov. 18, the AMLC supported the filing of criminal cases for money laundering under Section 4(f) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), as amended, against former RCBC retail banking group head Raul Victor B. Tan, as well as Ismael S. Reyes, Brigitte R. Capiña, Nestor O. Pineda, Romualdo S. Agarrado and Angela Ruth S. Torres. Section 4(f) of Republic Act No. 10365 or the amended AMLA provides that money laundering is committed by any person who performs or fails to perform any act as a result of which he facilitates the offense of money laundering. Tan, brother of National Treasurer Roberto B. Tan, resigned from the RCBC last April, at the height of the Senate investigation on the $81-million money laundering scandal that shook the domestic financial system as well as gaming industry. At the time of the money laundering transaction, Reyes was national sales director of RCBC’s retail banking group; Capiña was retail banking group regional sales director; Pineda was district sales director; Read More …

Cyber-crime (INQUIRER FILE PHOTO) CEBU CITY — Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) arrested 20 Taiwanese nationals for alleged online fraud. Armed with a search warrant, the agents barged into a five-story house rented by the suspects at Buena Hills Subdivision in Barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, past noon on Monday. Allan Tubi, acting chief of the NBI’s Regional Cybercrime Center Visayas, said the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines coordinated with them for the arrest of the Taiwanese nationals who allegedly defrauded their countrymen. Inventory of seized items was ongoing, as of this posting. “Will give you the specific details later,” Tubi said in an interview about 2 p.m. on Monday.  SFM TAGS: Allan Tubi, arrest, cebu city, Crime, cyber crime, Foreign Nationals, Law enforcement, National Bureau of Investigation, online fraud, raid, Seizure, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office of the Philippines For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.

NAIA terminal 3. FILE PHOTO MANILA — The Bureau of Immigration is beefing up its gatekeeping capabilities with the integration of its databases with those of other government agencies and the Interpol. The agency has begun implementing the BI Information System, which links up information sources and databases from the BI, government agencies and its international partners. BI commissioner Jaime Morente said the Filipino-designed system has been up and running in 10 international airports, including the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The system has been focusing on stronger border control and improved service efficiency, he said. Morente is expected to lead the formal launching of the BIIS, one of the agency’s flagship projects, at the NAIA Terminal 3 on Friday. Immigration officers can now access a centralized database of more than 320 million records of arrivals and departures, which is also linked to the databases of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Tourism and the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency. By linking databases from both local and international law enforcement agencies, the BI hopes to reduce the processing time at immigration counters from one minute to 30 seconds. Morente said the BIIS was programmed for quicker search and query through improved search engines and query functions. Immigration officers can now capture actual photos of passengers and take biometrics data with the deployment of cameras and fingerprint scanners in all points of entry. The BI will also be better equipped with improved anti-fraud control with the activation of ultra-violet and infrared auto-detection Read More …

Russian Kirdyushkin Yuri (center) and Hong Kong nationals Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan, were arrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, on Oct. 5, 2016, after P135 million worth of cocaine and shabu were found inside their luggge. (PHOTO BY JEANETTE ANDRADE, INQUIRER) MANILA — Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) intercepted at the country’s premier airport on Wednesday afternoon three foreigners allegedly trying to smuggle into the country some P135-million worth of suspected narcotics in their baggage. Ninoy Aquino International Airport district customs collector Ed Macabeo identified the suspected drug traffickers as Hong Kong nationals Chan Kawai and Pau Homanevan, and Russian national Kirdyushkin Yuri. Macabeo said the three who originally came from Brazil tried to slip through with a total of nearly 19 kilograms of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu allegedly hidden in their luggage. Before the suspects were intercepted, the anti-illegal drugs task force at the NAIA was tipped off about the possible arrival of a sizeable amount of narcotics through foreign drug couriers. The foreigners, who arrived at around 4:30 p.m. at the NAIA terminal 3 on a flight from Dubai, had just claimed their baggage from the carousel when they were asked over to the Customs office for inspection of their bags. Upon inspection, Macabeo said, the foreigners’ baggage yielded 9.9 kilograms of suspected cocaine in powder and liquid form, as well as nine kilograms of suspected shabu. PDEA operatives are conducting tests on the Read More …

Philippiine Army soldiers deployed to Sulu to pursue the Abu Sayyaf (INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO) ZAMBOANGA CITY — Three Indonesian nationals were freed by their Abu Sayyaf kidnappers on Saturday night. Freed were Ferry Arifin, Dan Edi Suryono and Mohammad Mahbrur, all tugboat crew who were kidnapped on Simisa Island in Sulu on June 22. The Moro National Liberation Front turned over the victims to Sulu Governor Abdusakur “Totoh” Tan and to Brig. Gen. Arnel dela Vega of the Joint Task Force Sulu. The victims were brought to Camp Teodulfo Bautista Station Hospital for medical examination and debriefing before being turned over to proper authorities. The military said the release of the victims was an offshoot of the ongoing military operations against the ASG, and with the assistance of the MNLF.  SFM Latest Lassiter shoots Beermen into Game 5 Woman who tops QC-Masambong drug watch list, 26 nabbed Two nights after heroic game, Aguilar silenced in Game 4 Ahanmisi hopes Adamson learns from UE loss Recommended Disclaimer: Comments do not represent the views of INQUIRER.net. We reserve the right to exclude comments which are inconsistent with our editorial standards. FULL DISCLAIMER View Comments For feedback, complaints, or inquiries, contact us.