AMLC director requests transfer to BSP amid flood control corruption probe

The executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council has requested a transfer to another post under the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the AMLC announced on Wednesday.

The AMLC said Arnold Kabanlit has been designated as officer-in-charge as the agency looks for a new executive director.

No timeline was given regarding the changes, the screening of a new director, and the new post that David requested.

David was the executive director of the AMLC when the agency secured freeze orders on P27.8 billion worth of assets linked to persons involved in the flood control projects corruption scandal.

Outgoing executive director David was appointed in 2022, after previously serving as director of the AMLC’s Investigation and Enforcement Department, and a deputy director of the BSP’s Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services.

Under his leadership, the AMLC froze some P27.8-billion worth of assets of 862 individuals and 648 entities in relation to the flood control corruption concerns. These include 7,970 bank accounts, 219 real properties, 253 motor vehicles, and 11 aircraft.

The AMLC earlier on Wednesday said it filed three petitions for civil forfeiture for assets tied to individuals and entities that were earlier subjected to several freeze orders.

David’s successor will need to have served for at least five years either in the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), or the Insurance Commission (IC), and should be a member of the Philippine bar under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

The AMLC, chaired by the BSP governor with the SEC chairman and IC commissioner as members, is the government’s main anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing agency.

BSP governor Eli Remolona Jr. last month said the Philippines is working to avoid a return in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) anti-dirty money “grey list” of countries under increased monitoring, given the ongoing corruption concerns on flood control. –NB, GMA Integrated News