Final offenses related to COVID-19 worth P3.2 B filed with AMLC – Manila Bulletin

Some P3.19 billion of COVID-19 financial crimes have been filed as Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) from January to August this year, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.

Diokno, also chairman of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), said on Friday that fraudulent activities online are one of the main reasons for the STR filing, which he described as unauthorized access to the account through skimming and phishing. , and other violations of the Electronic Commerce Law.

Fraudulent activities online were estimated at P2.7 billion and accounted for 49 percent of the RTS. STRs are transactions by covered individuals, such as banks, from “any of the suspicious circumstances” listed in the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, regardless of the amount involved.

Another 13 percent of STRs concerned online sexual exploitation of children and related crimes with an estimated value of P84.5 million, while nine percent of STRs concerned alleged money mules / transfer accounts valued at P406.9 million.

Diokno said AMLC analyzed the financial crime landscape using STRs, and the first study or Series 1 was in July and Series 2 (“Summary of COVID-19 Financial Crime Typologies and Trend Analysis, Series 2) updated the first for the period from January to August and covered the months when most areas of the country were in community quarantine.

In the second report, Diokno said that AMLC has underscored the “need for covered individuals to be cautious as money launderers and other criminals may be abusing digital platforms, which have been largely adopted due to the pandemic” .

“E-money issuers, money service companies, and other online money transfer service providers are advised to be vigilant amid an increase in RTS related to online activities,” Diokno said. He said that proper due diligence procedures to get to know your client / client must be carried out at all times.

“Clients’ risk ratings should be periodically evaluated in light of questionable and irregular financial transactions,” he added.

ROS were up 57 percent during the Series 2 period, compared to last year’s report. Of the total number, only 29 percent occurred during the closing months of March 16 to August 31.

According to the report, STR filings from e-money issuers increased by 688 percent and by 51 percent for pawn shops and money service companies.

Meanwhile, ROS on electronic banking transactions increased by 1,680 percent for incoming funds transfers and by 5,158 percent for funds transfers abroad, Diokno said. ROS, which involve cash inflows and outflows through electronic cash cards, increased by 580 percent and 197 percent, respectively.

The BSP said AMLC expects a continued increase in STR filing. “This is crucial in the collection and investigation of financial intelligence against money laundering and its preceding crimes; and terrorism and its financing, ”he said.

The AMLC report included typologies such as: smurfing scheme and transfer / money mule accounts; scammers claiming to be affiliated with a government unit and a government agency to solicit COVID-19 donations; and online shopping scam scheme involving Bitcoin. The BSP said that smurf is the use of multiple individuals and / or multiple transactions to make cash deposits, purchase monetary instruments, or bank drafts.

The report also included other notable red flags including: large inbound or outbound transactions for COVID-19 or other humanitarian causes without valid documentation; unsubstantiated deposits or fund transfers as presumed payment for products and / or services provided to government units for COVID-19 relief efforts; ongoing or unusual account transactions (such as cash deposits, cash withdrawals, check writing, payments to vendors) from businesses adversely affected by the pandemic; receipt of large deposits allegedly caused by changes in the nature of employment and / or business (allegedly due to the pandemic) vis-à-vis the customer’s account information during the onboarding process; receipt of large deposits purportedly for the sale of medical items or donations for COVID-19 relief efforts from unusual senders or channels, such as virtual currency companies; and small-value, fast-moving funds for multiple account holders with immediate withdrawals but no underlying justification.