MANILA, Philippines — Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura on Monday presented records showing P4.4 billion in covered and suspicious transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, as the impeachment court examined their financial records from 2007 to 2025.
The AMLC summary submitted to the court listed 666 covered transaction reports (CTRs) and 55 suspicious transaction reports involving Duterte and Carpio, Buenaventura said.
Among the transactions presented by House private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia was an over-the-counter cash withdrawal of P9,109,644.80, or about $221,323, from a Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) account on April 8, 2013.
Buenaventura said the transaction was reported by BPI’s J. Vargas branch and identified former President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte as the account holders.
Divinagracia later presented another BPI transaction involving P9,785,744.55, or about $225,582, dated March 9, 2011.
Buenaventura said the account was also jointly held by the former president and the Vice President.
Divinagracia said at least 40 other CTRs involved dollar-denominated accounts allegedly registered under Duterte and Carpio.
Before presenting the Vice President’s financial records, Divinagracia asked Buenaventura to identify the warning signs that banks and other covered institutions should watch for when assessing potentially suspicious transactions.
Buenaventura cited large or frequent cash withdrawals that appear beyond a client’s financial capacity, as well as transactions with no apparent underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose or economic justification.
The witness said the AMLC can readily trace funds while they remain within the banking system, but tracking becomes more difficult once money is withdrawn in cash.
Buenaventura also cautioned against treating the aggregate figures in the reports as a direct measure of Duterte and Carpio’s wealth.
He said suspicious transaction reports are only a “starting point” for AMLC analysis and investigation, underscoring that the reports themselves do not establish the amount of money the couple held at any given time.
Buenaventura testified that the impeachment court had subpoenaed AMLC records covering Duterte, Carpio and 20 entities covering the period 2007 to 2025.
The AMLC submitted covered and suspicious transaction reports involving the couple, as well as intelligence and investigation reports, in response to the subpoena.
Of the 20 entities named in the subpoena, only Cale88 Foods Corporation and 888 Bistro were the subject of suspicious transaction reports, Buenaventura said.
Thirteen entities had covered transaction reports only, while five had no records in the AMLC documents submitted to the court.
Cale88 Foods, a banana chips exporter partly owned by Carpio, has been cited by prosecutors in allegations involving remittances from Chinese companies.
The financial records were presented as prosecutors continued to build their case concerning the alleged unexplained wealth of the Vice President.
