In this photo taken on March 12, 2013, employees at the giant Solaire Resort and Casino Manila practice at gaming tables ahead of the opening on March 16, 2013. Solaire Manila Resorts is the first of four enormous entertainment venues slated to rise over a giant chunk of prime, reclaimed land that industry and government leaders expect will attract millions of cashed-up Asian tourists. ©AFP PHOTO / Jay DIRECTO
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Panfilo Lacson has filed a bill expanding the coverage of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) to include casinos, real estate brokers, and dealers of art works and motor vehicles.
In filing the bill, Lacson noted how money launderers now use such businesses and professions to cover their illegal transactions.
He also underscored how the industry, particularly the casinos, seemed to be attractive to money launderers.
“While the contributions of the casino industry are acknowledge, it is also understood that casinos are equally exposed to tha raging threats of money laundering,” the senator said in a statement Thursday.
Lacson noted how the cyber-heist in the Bank of Bangladesh exposed AMLA’s vulnerabilities and loopholes in curtailing laundering schemes in the Philippines.
His statement came amid the recent anomaly involving $81-million worth of suspected laundered money hacked from the Bank of Bangladesh and discovered to have been stored in the Philippines’ Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).
The suspects reportedly laundered the money from the Bangladesh central bank’s deposit in the Federeal Reserve Bank of New York and transferred the moeny to several bank accounts of casino players with RCBC.
Under the Lacson bill, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) will be bolstered with the inclusion of the so-called Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBs) stated above.
The bill will aslo add the following to the list of unlawful activities covered by AMLA.
Violations of firearms and ammunitions regulations act
Cybercrime
Violations of Strategic Trade Management Act regarding weapons of mass destruction
Tax evasion
Among the covered transactions involved amounts in excess of P500,000 in one banking day and for casinos, the bill seeks to cover single or aggregate transactions exceeding P150,000 in one gaming day.
Meanwhile, the bill sets the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as the supervising authority of foreign exchange dealers, money dealers, remittance and money transfer businesses.
The bill prohibits casino operators from receiving cash for transmittal through wire or telegraphic transfer on behalf of a customer.
Under the penalties and sanctions, the bill states that one who maliciously reports or files false information on money laundering transactions will face a jail term of six months to four years with a fine of P100,000 to P500,000.(MNS)