THE Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) sat down with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and law enforcement agencies in order to thwart digital vote buying during the election period.
Aside from the BSP, the group is also talking to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to prevent incidents of vote buying using modern methods.
During the Laging Handa public briefing, AMLC executive director Mel Georgie Racela revealed that the BSP itself led the initiative together with the help of the Comelec and the authorities.
Racela said they already have a Memorandum of Agreement with the PNP and the NBI regarding sharing of information about these types of illegal activities during the election period.
He added that they have already established red flags or signs for the banks to know of any suspicious transactions in a bank account.
This will then be treated as basis for the banks to file a report with the AMLC to be able to scrutinize an account.
Among the warning signs, Racela said, is a big-time cash deposit in a single transaction, followed by massive money transfers and withdrawals.
It can also be seen that there is inconsistency using a customer’s transaction in his previous financial profile, or an individual can also use multiple accounts.
Multiple transactions that happened in a short time, especially during the election period, can also be seen as basis in filing a report.