FILE PHOTO: Alice Guo. INQUIRER/MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Dismissed Mayor Alice Leal Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, now faces 87 counts of money laundering involving about P7 billion for almost five years in another case lodged against her in the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday.
Guo’s sister, Shiela, and Lucky South 99 representative Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, and over 30 other individuals and business entities were named respondents in the complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
‘Principal’ character
“The AMLC remains committed in its mission to ensure that the financial system is not exploited to further criminal enterprises,” said its executive director Matthew David. “This filing is part of the AMLC’s pursuit to combat financial crimes and safeguard the integrity of the Philippine financial system.”
READ: Gatchalian warns: Guo family members are ‘professional swindlers’
According to the three agencies, financial transactions worth about P7 billion, including P6.2 billion used to construct 32 buildings on the 8-hectare Bamban property of Baofu Land Development which housed the Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) Zun Yuan Technology Inc., formerly known as Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. from 2020 to 2024.
Zun Yuan was raided by PAOCC and shut down in March.
“We have included Alice Guo because, based on our findings, she is the principal in the money laundering case. She used several entities in transferring her money, it went to an entity, ultimately it ended up with Baofu,” AMLC investigator Adrian Arpon said at a press conference in the DOJ.
The complaint identified Guo as the owner of Baofu, despite her attempts to make it look like she wasn’t by transferring her P2.5 million worth of shares in the company to fellow respondent Jack Uy through a deed of assignment in September 2021.
‘Layered’ transactions
The transfer never materialized as she maintains the same amount of shares in Baofu. This was one case where the NBI, PAOCC and AMLC found that Guo “layered” her financial transactions from 2020 to 2024 to distance herself from the illegal activities done by Zun Yuan, such as cyberscams and human trafficking.
“An inspection of the Baofu compound would show that its design is similar to a prison or jail-like facility,” according to the complaint. “It is surrounded by a high fence and there are limited entry and exit points. This prison-like facility proves that herein respondents intended to limit the movement of the individuals inside, thereby allowing them full control over the facility.”
According to the complaint, Guo transferred her own funds from her Banco De Oro bank accounts to her family-owned companies QJJ Farm and Qseed Genetics, which had been paying the Baofu compound’s electric bills.
Baofu racked up about P62.4 million from July 15, 2020, to Jan. 8, 2024, according to the complaint. The monthly amounts paid by the two companies to electricity provider Tarlac Electric Cooperative ranged from P60,000 to P140,000.
“This Hongsheng and Zun Yuan, they were the ones that operated the Pogo hubs so based on our investigation, Alice Guo was the one that financed these Pogos,” PAOCC spokesperson Winston John Casio said.
Chinese identities
Guo and her sister were also identified in the complaint by their Chinese names—Guo Hua Ping and Ziang Mier, respectively.
Shiela is currently facing a deportation case in the Bureau of Immigration after the NBI established her alleged Chinese citizenship as seen in the Chinese passport that she carried and her fingerprints, which matched with a Chinese national named Zhang Mier.
She later admitted to senators that she was indeed a Chinese national.
Guo, who fled the country in July, is currently facing human trafficking charges in the DOJ in relation to the Zun Yuan Pogo raid. In addition, a “quo warranto” case filed by the Office of the Solicitor General in the Manila Regional Trial Court is seeking to remove her as Bamban mayor for her ineligibility to hold public office as she is a foreigner.
Other respondents
The other respondents in the complaint are: Jian Zhong Guo, also known as Angelito Guo; Lin Wenyi, also known as Wen Yi Lin; Seimen Guo; Nancy J. Gamo; Maybeline R. Millo; Jack L. Uy; Bernard Chua Chua; Dennis L. Cunanan; Shicong Zhang; Ma Tram; Walter Wong Long; Wang Weili’ Lang Xu Po; Ma The Pong; Huang Yue Hai; Rachelle Joan Carreon; Zhiyang Huang, also known as Boss Wang; Baoying Lin; Ruijin Zhang.
Jaimielyn S. Cruz; Roderick Paul B. Pujante; Juan Miguel Alpas; Yu Zheng Can; Thelma B. Laranan; Rowena G. Evangelista; Rita S. Yturralde; Merlie Joy Manalo Castro; Mariella Joy Masiclat Tulio, also known as Leila Masiclat, also known as Leila Tulio; Jayson M. Masuerte; Baofu Land Development, Inc.; Hongsheng Gaming Technology, Inc.; Rowena Gonzales Evangelista.
Zun Yuan Technology Inc.; Roderick Paul Bernardo Pujante; Juan Miguel Alpas; QJJ Farms and Qseed Genetics. INQ