<![CDATA[Philippines probes US$370 million cash-smuggling racket involving Chinese nationals]>
Philippine authorities are investigating the smuggling of about US$370 million in cash through Manila airport, after a lawmaker sounded the alarm that Chinese nationals were entering the country via Hong Kong with excessive funds and assisted by government officials.
The Bureau of Customs said it had identified two syndicates " a "Chinese group" that had sneaked in about US$168 million, and a "Rodriguez group" that smuggled in some US$200 million, between December 17 last year and February 12 this year.
According to Philippine law, travellers can carry up to US$10,000 or its equivalent in any foreign currency, in or out of the country. Any amount above that can still be brought in for as long as it is covered by a signed declaration as to its source and purpose, according to a 2006 Philippine Central Bank circular. The bureau said the handful of Chinese travellers who brought in excessive amounts had declared these would be used for travel, casino or investments.
Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said he was familiar with the matter because he had seen a report by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero, and on Tuesday directed the customs bureau and the Anti-Money Laundering Council to investigate further.
Guerrero, in his report dated January 29, said the cash was brought in by couriers who were paid from 12,000 to 50,000 pesos (US$620 to US$2,570) per trip.
"These couriers travel almost twice or thrice a week and carry about one to two pieces of luggage, and are able to escape detection because they are escorted by members of the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or the airport police department at the Manila International Airport Authority," said Guerrero, a former chief of the armed forces.
Customs spokesman Philip Maronilla on Tuesday told a local radio station that airport surveillance footage was being reviewed to see if these couriers were indeed accompanied by personnel from the uniformed and armed forces.
Some of those who brought in the money were "candid enough to declare they're bringing in these amounts for gambling", Maronilla told DZMM radio.
Most of the travellers came from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, he said.
Senator Richard Gordon. File photo: AP
The Department of Finance's investigation orders came days after Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the chamber's blue-ribbon committee, called for a probe on the influx of Chinese nationals and the "inordinate amount of money" they bring.
"With that kind of money, you can pay a lot of people, give them arms and take over our country," Gordon told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
"You can say I'm alarmist, but that's a fifth column," said Gordon, who is of American descent and openly pro-American.
In August last year, the Chinese embassy in Manila said a large amount of gambling-related funds were flowing illegally out of China and into the Philippines, pushing back on the Philippines' online gaming sector that targets gamblers from the mainland and employs hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers.
In recent months, the involvement of Chinese nationals in criminal activities such as online scams, prostitution, human trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and murder have been a hot-button issue. Senator Risa Hontiveros conducted a probe last month of immigration officials allowing Chinese fugitives and tourists to enter the country for a fee so they can work for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogos).
The Philippines' burgeoning online gaming sector mostly targets gamblers from China. File photo: AFP
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a revamp but no one has been dismissed from the immigration bureau. He has refused to crack down on illegal workers in the Pogo industry because, he said, China could do the same with Filipino workers working illegally in the mainland.
Seemingly by coincidence, the murder last week of a Chinese national in a hotpot restaurant appeared to corroborate Senator Gordon's speculation.
Yin Jian Tao was shot dead inside a restaurant on February 27 in Metro Manila's financial district of Makati City by fellow Chinese nationals.
One of the fleeing suspects who was arrested, Yang Chao Wen, was found to have in his possession two Chinese military identification cards, three hand guns, bullets, and 345,000 pesos in cash.
He and the other arrested, wounded suspect Kai Zheng, have denied to the police the IDs were theirs. They claimed these belonged to a fellow worker in a Pogo company.
The victim's wife, who was unharmed, told the police that the couple were to meet the suspects who had wanted to exchange their Chinese yuan into pesos, so they could buy plane tickets back to China. The meeting was arranged through WeChat.
The police did not find any yuan at the scene of the crime.
Gordon said he was assuming that the perpetrators were with the Chinese army, because "I will always assume the worst".
The growth of Pogos in the Philippines has brought about a rise in crimes committed by Chinese nationals. Photo: SCMP
Senate defence committee chair Panfilo Lacson told the Daily Inquirer that the IDs "may confirm a yet unvalidated report that a good number of PLA (People's Liberation Army) members are on an immersion mission in several parts of the country, although the reason for it is still unclear".
Lacson added that this "should be a cause for concern".
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said the presidential palace would "most likely" conduct its own investigation. "But if there is already a Senate investigation, ordinarily, the President waits for that," he said.
Panelo also said that amid calls for Duterte to stop Pogo operations because they were a magnet for crime, "I have not heard of any new policy".
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Copyright (c) 2020. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
