THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) secured the conviction of three individuals in separate money laundering cases involving illegal investment solicitation, with the courts imposing prison terms and millions of pesos in fines.
Regional trial courts in Davao City and Zamboanga City rendered judgments in April against individuals linked to schemes that solicited investments from the public without the required regulatory authority, the AMLC said on Monday.
The Davao court on April 7 convicted one individual on 13 counts of money laundering predicated on violations of the Securities Regulation Code.
The case stemmed from the activities of a religious organization and its founders, who were charged with violating the Securities Code by illegally soliciting investments from the public.
An AMLC investigation found that the convicted individual conspired with the organization’s founders in carrying out the scheme.
For each of the 13 money laundering counts, the individual was sentenced to imprisonment ranging from seven years to eight years and one month and fined P3 million per count.
The AMLC’s second conviction, meanwhile, involves two individuals linked to a trading company in Zamboanga City.
On April 23, the Zamboanga City court convicted the two for violating Section 4(b) of Republic Act 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001.
The case followed an investigation into a trading company owned and operated by one of the convicted individuals.
According to the AMLC, the company solicited investments from the public while offering “exorbitant returns” despite lacking the required secondary license and registration from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The two individuals were each sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of four to six years and ordered to pay a P1.5-million fine.
The AMLC said the convictions resulted from coordination with the SEC, National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice.
It emphasized that the cases remained under appeal.
“As the foregoing cases are currently under appeal, the AMLC shall continue to work closely with these agencies to safeguard the integrity of the Philippines’ financial system against criminal activities,” it added.