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REELECTED Sen. Panfilo Lacson has questioned the order
of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze
P1.21 billion worth of accounts involving over 8,000
suspicious transactions made in the midst of the May 14
election campaign on suspicion some of these funds came
from illegal sources.
In a
statement, Lacson cautioned the council against being
used as a “tool for political harassment” of known
opponents of the Arroyo administration.
While
conceding that the AMLC has the power to freeze
suspicious accounts, Lacson cited specific provisions in
Republic Act 9160, or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of
2001, which provides safeguards against the law being
used as tool for political persecution during and after
the election period.
Lacson
pointed to Section 16 of RA 9160 which states that “no
case for money laundering may be filed against and no
assets shall be frozen, attached or forfeited to the
prejudice of a candidate for an electoral office during
an election period.”
The
senator strongly reacted to earlier reports quoting AMLC
executive director Vicente Aquino as saying more than
8,000 suspicious transactions were reported to the
council by financial institutions and banks at the
height of the senatorial and local election campaign.
He noted
statements attributed to Aquino that the increase in
suspicious transactions may have been sparked by the
huge funding requirement of candidates in the May 14
elections.
Under RA
9160, a transaction could be tagged as suspicious if it
involves the movement of at least P500,000 within a
banking day and banks and other financial entities are
mandated to report these transactions to the council for
appropriate investigation.
But
Lacson advised Mr. Aquino to review the antimoney
laundering law “and take necessary steps to correct this
mistake of freezing these accounts.”
“Aside
from being possibly used by the government as a tool for
political harassment, it is quite understandable for
transactions to exceed the P500,000 threshold during an
election period due to campaign funding requirements of
candidates,” the senator said.
For
instance, Lacson drew a scenario where a candidate for
national position would need to send funding for his
campaign projects in Mindanao that would exceed the
threshold, and the AMLC freezes the account used.
“Imagine
the negative setback and implication it would create for
that candidate, especially if he is from the
opposition.”
Lacson
suggested that Aquino and the AMLC should instead focus
their investigation of suspicious accounts transacted
outside the election period “to net the real money
launderers.” |
