The brother of an adviser of former President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly has links to dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo during the height of POGO operations in Tarlac, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) chief Gilbert Cruz said.
Yang Jian Xin, who also uses the alias Antonio Lim and Tony Yang, was arrested Thursday evening at NAIA Terminal 3.
“We are looking at transactions which show they (Tony Yang and Guo) have links. It is not just one or two (coincidental) transactions,” Cruz said.
Tony Yang is the older brother Michael Yang, Duterte’s ex-adviser who has been linked to allegedly illegal POGO activities and drug operations, as well as to the Pharmally scandal involving allegedly overpriced COVID-19 medical supplies sold to the government during Duterte’s term.
The elder Yang is also suspected of being involved in smuggling drugs and facilitating illegal POGOs in Cagayan de Oro City, as well as in Bamban, Tarlac, and Porac, Pampanga.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) told legislators it has frozen the assets of Guo amounting to P816.9 million.
AMLC lawyer Adrian Arpon said the assets include bank accounts, corporation shares, real properties and personal properties, such as motor vehicles and a helicopter.
He said 88 principal bank accounts and 90 related accounts were targeted by the freeze order.
“The total peso equivalent that was frozen was more than P199 million,” he said.
On the other hand, the real properties under the freeze order, registered under the names of Guo and other individuals, have an appraised value exceeding P478 million.
Meanwhile, the motor vehicles involved have an appraised value of over P76 million, while the helicopter is valued at P63.9 million.
The House Quad Committee earlier confirmed that Guo, a Chinese national, exploited loopholes in Philippine legal and identification systems to establish businesses believed to be connected to illegal Chinese syndicates, including a raided POGO hub in Bamban.
