The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said Wednesday it cancelled the certificate of registration of remittance company Philrem Service Corp. and two other remittance agents for violating rules governing non-bank financial institutions.
Philrem is the remittance company linked in the $81-million money laundering scam involving money allegedly stolen from the Bangladesh Bank.
The funds were believed stolen by cyber thieves from the account of Bangladesh Bank in the Federal Reserve in New York. It entered the Philippine financial system through fictitious accounts at the Jupiter branch in Makati City of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. Philrem was pinpointed as the one that converted into pesos part of the $81 million stolen funds and delivered the funds to casinos.
Bangko Sentral said it also cancelled the registration of Werquick Inc. and Peso Remittance Express Inc., both engaged in foreign exchange dealing, money changing and remittance businesses.
“The Monetary Board cancelled the certificate of registration of Philrem [as a remittance agent], Werquick [as a foreign exchange dealer/money changer/remittance agent], and Peso Remittance [as a foreign exchange dealer/money changer/remittance agent], due to significant violations of Section 4511N of the Manual of Regulations for Non-Bank Financial Institutions and Circular No. 706 dated 5 January 2011,” Bangko Sentral said.
Bangko Sentral said it would work closely with other government agencies such as the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the Justice Department in their investigation of possible criminal and administrative violations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act and its implementing rules and regulations.
Aside from banks, Bangko Sentral is also the governing body that supervises remittance firms, money changers, pawnshops and other financial institutions.
The Bureau of Internal Revenue filed a P35.6-million tax evasion case against Philrem in April after investigation allegedly found that the remittance company did not paying taxes for a couple of years.
“In its registration with the BIR, Philrem’s line of business is ‘other land transport operation not elsewhere classified.’ Philrem thereafter amended its primary purpose with the Securities and
Exchange Commission which is to engage in the business of remittance of money/currency from abroad to be delivered to the different parts of the Philippines. Despite the change in its primary purpose, it did not update its registration with the BIR,” BIR said earlier.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council also filed before the Justice Department a money laundering complaint against Philrem and its top officials in connection with the $81-million money laundering scam.
AMLC said Philrem’s role “was to make it extremely difficult to trace the source and flow of the funds by avoiding all anti-money laundering measures set by laws and regulations. The participation of Philrem is really to ‘wash’ the funds and conceal the money trail.”
