Court Orders Freeze on Assets of Mayor Alice Guo, Including 90 Accounts With P28 billion In Bank Transactions

The Court of Appeals (CA) has issued a directive to freeze all bank accounts and assets belonging to Alice Guo, the suspended mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, due to her alleged involvement with illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

Bilyonaryo disclosed details from the 61-page resolution of the CA which is its response to a petition filed by the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). This document orders the freezing of 90 bank accounts, 12 real estate properties in Las Piñas, Bulacan, and Tarlac, and 13 vehicles, including a P60 million Robinsons helicopter linked to Guo and her business associates, for 20 days.

The assets include bank accounts held by Guo’s business partners in Baofu Land Development Inc., as well as those associated with the POGOs Zun Yuan Technology Inc. and Hongsheng Gaming Technology Inc. Both these POGOs operated within a large compound owned by Baofu in Bamban, a property that Guo had sold.

In 2023, Hongsheng was raided by authorities and later replaced by Zun Yuan, which was eventually shut down in 2024 due to allegations of human trafficking and serious illegal detention.

To prevent the withdrawal, transfer, or concealment of funds and assets beyond the reach of law enforcement, the CA found the issuance of the freeze order “appropriate and judicious.”

The CA’s ruling, penned by Associate Justice Florencio Mamauag Jr. with concurrence from Associate Justices Louis P. Acosta and Maximo M. De Leon, revealed that proceeds from unlawful activities were funneled through multiple bank accounts of interconnected individuals and companies.

Out of the 90 frozen accounts, 31 were solely in Guo’s name, while five were joint accounts. Additionally, 12 properties, 12 vehicles, and one helicopter under her name were also frozen. The Bilyonaryo report detailed the bank accounts linked to the controversial mayor and showed that these registered P28 billion in total bank transactions.

The investigation indicated a significant increase in cash flows and transactions in Guo’s bank accounts starting in 2014, with a notable surge in 2020 despite the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020 alone, Guo issued checks totaling P1.255 billion, coinciding with the construction of a Baofu building in Bamban.

Though Guo transferred her shares in Baofu to Jack L. Uy in 2021, who then passed them to Bernard Chua, the AMLC’s investigation suggested that she retained a controlling interest in the company. This conclusion was based on permits issued by the Bamban local government in 2021 and 2022, which listed Guo as Baofu’s owner.

Under Section 10 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2001, the CA is authorized to issue a freeze order upon determining probable cause that any monetary instrument or property is related to an unlawful activity.

Alice Guo is now facing severe legal consequences. She has been cited for contempt by the Senate, and a warrant for her arrest will be issued.

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Source: Bilyonaryo