Helicopter probe may involve anti-money laundering council
August 20, 2011
THE Senate blue ribbon committee may meet with the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) over “suspicious” financial transactions by a company owned by a former President’s family, a committee member said Friday.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, in a radio interview, said he has talked to AMLC Executive Director Vicente Aquino over investigating a wire transfer by Lourdes T. Arroyo (LTA) Inc. of $500,000 to US-based Robinson Helicopter Corp. in 2003.
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During hearings on two second-hand helicopters sold to the police as brand new, helicopter dealer Lionair Inc. presented records of the wire transfer. The money was meant as down payment, Lionair general manager Renato Sia said. Lionair president Archibald Po also told the committee that Jose Miguel Arroyo, the former President’s husband, bought the helicopters.
Arroyo has denied this, adding he had divested himself of stock in LTA by then. His brother, Representative Ignacio Arroyo (5th District, Negros Occidental) has come forward to say he leased the helicopters in 2004.
Lacson said he asked Aquino if the 500,000-dollar wire transfer, for helicopters by a company not engaged in aviation, could be considered suspicious. “And it turned out that (transactions of) more than P500,000 falls under ‘suspicious,'” he said.
Under the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, the AMLC has to investigate “covered transactions,” which are transactions worth at least P4 million. Banks are also required to report those covered transactions to the AMLC.
Lacson said the transaction may have been flagged back in 2003, but that the AMLC could not take action. “They couldn’t have done because FG (for former first gentleman Arroyo) was involved in remitting the $500,000,” he explained.
He added Executive Director Aquino promised to keep the Senate updated on what the AMLC finds in the LTA account.
Senators, including chairman Senator Teofisto Guingona III and Senator Franklin Drilon, believe the lease agreement the Arroyos presented is fake. The committee has invited Representative Arroyo to its hearing, set for next Monday, to prove that he leased the helicopters.
“I challenge Iggy Arroyo to produce the cheque to show payment of P9.8 million to Lionair or any piece of evidence that would show that he paid Lionair P9.8 million (under the lease agreement),” Drilon said Thursday.
If the AMLC investigates LTA’s accounts, Lacson said, “It could open the proverbial can of worms.” (Jonathan de Santos/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/08/20/helicopter-probe-may-involve-anti-money-laundering-council-174148
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