customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Reuters

Philippine authorities on Friday filed several counts of money laundering against a fugitive former town mayor accused of links to Chinese criminal syndicates.
Alice Guo, also known as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, is wanted by the Senate for refusing to attend hearings on her alleged criminal ties. She has denied the accusations, insisting she is a natural-born Philippine citizen facing “malicious accusations”.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), with the National Bureau of Investigation and Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, jointly filed multiple counts of money laundering against Guo and 35 others at the Department of Justice.
“These individuals ... are alleged to have been involved in a complex scheme of money laundering linked to the crimes of estafa [or fraudulent acts], qualified trafficking in persons, and violations of the Securities Regulation Code,” the AMLC said in a statement.

Guo and her co-conspirators were alleged to have laundered more than 100 million Philippine pesos (US$1.8 million) in proceeds from criminal activities, the council said.
The council also sought to forfeit 6 billion pesos worth of assets including real estate properties, luxury vehicles and a helicopter that Guo and her associates accumulated through alleged illegal activities.
Lawyers of Alice Guo and another respondent, Sheila Guo, did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside office hours on Friday.
Guo, who was recently removed from office by the local government ombudsman, has fled the country, traveling to Malaysia and Singapore last month and Indonesia this month using her Philippine passport, the Philippine anti-crime agency said.
The Senate’s investigation began in May after authorities raided a casino in Guo’s sleepy farming town of Bamban in March, uncovering what the authorities said were scams being perpetrated from a facility built on land partially owned by the former mayor.
Guo’s case comes at a time of growing Philippine suspicion about China’s activities following an increasingly tense dispute over reefs and shoals in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, where both nations have overlapping claims.


China’s opportunity? Philippines’ Sabina Shoal withdrawal sparks backlash

China sends message regional security rests on joint efforts of all

China touts regional security cooperation at Xiangshan defence forum as US tensions loom

Hong Kong family-office wooing campaign gathers steam, summit attendance shows

The Philippines

Philippines files money-laundering case against fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo

A poster showing support for Bamban Mayor Alice Guo. Photo: AFP

Guo and her co-conspirators were alleged to have laundered more than 100 million Philippine pesos (US$1.8 million) in proceeds from criminal activities. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

Alice Guo’s great escape: testimony reveals how fugitive former mayor fled the Philippines

The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) fingerprint examination found Mayor Alice Guo’s fingerprints were identical to those of a woman named Guo Hua Ping, her suspected real identity, who came to the country as a Chinese national teen in 2003 with a Chinese passport. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

A photo of Alice Guo’s sister Sheila Gyo and Cassandra Li Ong in the custody of Indonesian authorities shared by Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros. Photo: Instagram / @hontiverosrisa

Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

Philippines’ fugitive ex-mayor Alice Guo’s sister and associate apprehended in Indonesia

A photo of Alice Guo’s sister Sheila Guo and Cassandra Li Ong in the custody of Indonesian authorities shared by Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros. Photo: Instagram / @hontiverosrisa 

The Philippine Senate has issued an arrest warrant against Alice Guo. Photo: Facebook / Alice Guo

Marcos Jnr’s Philippines rattled by Quiboloy crackdown, anti-corruption push

Anti-riot police block supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy as they stage a protest rally outside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy protest outside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Apollo Quiboloy, the controversial “spiritual adviser” of ex-Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AFP

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr marks National Heroes Day in Taguig City. Photo: EPA-EFE

Anti-riot police block supporters of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy as they stage a protest rally outside the Kingdom of Jesus Christ compound in Davao City on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE 

Where did Alice Guo go? Philippine mayor who allegedly spied for China may have fled country

Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo. The Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) fingerprint examination previously found Mayor Guo’s fingerprints were identical to those of a woman named Guo Hua Ping, her suspected real identity, who came to the country as a teen in 2003 with a Chinese passport. Photo: Facebook/AliceLealGuo

A poster showing support for Bamban Mayor Alice Leal Guo in Bamban, province of Tarlac, on July 19. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Philippine agencies jointly filed multiple counts of money laundering against Guo and 35 others


Guo and her co-conspirators were alleged to have laundered more than 100 million Philippine pesos (US$1.8 million) in proceeds from criminal activities.
