THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) has secured a freeze order covering 86 bank accounts linked to a “prominent lawmaker,” a corporation and several individuals and entities allegedly involved in flood control anomalies and a broader government budget kickback scheme.
In a statement, the AMLC said the Court of Appeals issued the order on September 21, 2026, after finding probable cause that the assets were related to plunder under Republic Act No. 7080.
The order also covers four investment accounts, one insurance policy and 25 virtual asset wallets.
“Financial investigation revealed that the individuals involved had no apparent operating revenues to support the scale of their investments,” the AMLC said.
Funds associated with the investments were also moved through multiple layers involving individual intermediaries, corporations, bank accounts, a money service business and a virtual asset platform, it said.
“The use of multiple recipients and financial channels complicated the tracing of the funds and increased their transactional distance from their alleged source,” the AMLC added.
The AMLC said it traced the transactions to funds allegedly associated with corruption and plunder cases involving the lawmaker.
The council said the investigation highlighted the increasing use of financial technology in illicit activities, with emerging financial channels making the movement of funds more difficult to trace.
The AMLC did not identify the lawmaker, corporation or other parties covered by the freeze order. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)