By Melissa Luz T. Lopez
Senior Reporter
THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) said it obtained money-laundering convictions against an employee of a chemical trading firm who was diverting funds from the company.
The AMLC said Annabella C. Ylagan was found guilty by a Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Quezon City on 55 counts of money laundering. The fund diversion involved the creation of a fake bank account and the transfer of P12 million.
In a statement, the AMLC said the RTC decision, which was handed down in April, brings the total convictions it has obtained for money laundering to 92 counts.
Previous cases involved drug dealers, illegal recruiters, practitioners of fraud, kidnappers, bankers and corrupt officials, the agency said.
Ms. Ylagan was a liaison officer and secretary to the president at a chemical trading firm and was found to have created a fake company and bank accounts under the name “Lourdes R. Liu.” She then forged letters of authority from her employer to allow the transfer of funds to her own accounts, accumulating P12 million over four years, the AMLC said.
Ms. Ylagan was earlier convicted of qualified theft through falsification of documents, and was made to pay P9.853 million in actual damages to her employer. This then led to her money laundering prosecution, with qualified theft identified as the predicate crime.
Ms. Ylagan was sentenced to seven years in prison for each count of money laundering which she is now serving at the Correctional Institute for Women, the AMLC said.
At least 42 pending cases involving money laundering remain pending before trial courts, the Department of Justice and the Office of the Ombudsman.
“More convictions are expected to be handed down within the year,” the AMLC said.
Last week, the agency announced that fund managers, jewelry dealers, lawyers and accountants must soon register with the AMLC and report high-value as well as suspicious transactions.
The national money laundering threat level remained “high” from 2015-2016, according to the second national risk assessment report published by the AMLC.
