THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) is investigating a dozen cases of money laundering involving high-profile subjects involved in the illegal wildlife trade.
Interviewed at the sidelines of the World Wildlife Day 2020 celebration at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon City, Maria Ivy B. Jovellanos-Lanuevo of the AMLC Secretariat’s Compliance and Investigation Group said the cases were referred to the anti-money laundering body by the various law-enforcement agencies working with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“We are now investigating at least a dozen cases and are following the money trail. We are closely working with various law-enforcement agencies and are now focusing on this illegal activity,” she said.
Last year, she said the AMLC caused the freezing of several bank accounts of a businessman, whom she declined to name, following a thorough investigation by the AMLC.
The subject, she said, was arrested by authorities for violation of the Wildlife Act repeatedly, funneling suspicion that organized crime is involved. She said the AMLC is now working with counterpart law-enforcement agencies in the country where illegally caught wildlife are being brought by the subject.
“The subject has several bank accounts and on suspicion of that person’s involvement, we decided to freeze some of these accounts,” she said.
However, she said the AMLC was only able to freeze a total of P1.5 million from the subject’s accounts.
“The subject was able to withdraw the money from the accounts before we were able to freeze [them],” she said.
According to Jovellanos-Lanuevo, the subject uses legitimate businesses as fronts for the illegal activity.
Considered a transnational crime, illegal wildlife trade is a major driver of biodiversity loss.
The Philippines, both a consumer and source of illegally traded animal and plant wildlife, is struggling to protect its threatened species.
Considered one of the megadiverse countries in the world in terms of biodiversity, it is also a biodiversity hotspot because of the rapid rate of flora and fauna loss.
During a press conference highlighting the Philippines’s celebration of the World Wildlife Day, Environment Undersecretary Ernesto D. Adobo Jr and Environment Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon underscored the successful operations that led to the rescue of live species of animals from illegal wildlife traders.
Adobo, the DENR’s undersecretary for legal, administration, finance, human resources and information system said while the DENR has succeeded in involving the communities in combating illegal wildlife trade, the fact remains that hunger and poverty persist in many areas.
“When the community go hungry, they resort to illegal wildlife trade,” he said.
The DENR’s campaign, he said, is two-pronged—fighting those involved in both the demand and the supply side of the equation.
For his part, Calderon underscored the need to give more teeth to the law to deter crime.
“As Undersecretary Adobo said, when the people feel they are hungry, they catch a pangolin and sell them because it’s easy money,” he said.
He said one way of preventing wildlife crime is by imposing severe penalties and bigger fines.
The DENR’s current protection and conservation strategy is anchored on the strength of its Protected Area management. Calderon said currently, there are 107 legislated Protected Areas in the Philippines with the enactment of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System (Enipas) Act.
These Protected Areas cover a total of 7.7 million hectares of the country’s 30 million hectares total land area.
He said the DENR-Biodiversity Management Bureau will push for increased funding for these legislated Protected Areas to boost forest and coastal area protection and deter illegal wildlife trade.
Image credits: Nonoy LaczaIinset image by PNA