Whirlwind Corporation stakeholder Katherine Cassandra Li Ong withdrew her willingness to sign a bank secrecy law waiver after the House quad-committee considered to lift her detention order related to when she was cited for contempt in a previous hearing.
Signing the waiver will give the panel access to her banking transactions related to the real estate company that leased its compound to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) Lucky South 99.
“This is the reason why I resorted to AMLA (Anti-Money Laundering Act). How do we get the information about her bank transactions faced with the change in state of mind of Cassandra Ong where she does not want to divulge,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, Vice Chairperson of the House Committee on Public Accounts, said in an interview.
In line with the human trafficking case and anti-money laundering law violation which Ong faces, the quad-committee can secure a permit issued by the Court of Appeals, a “Petition for Bank Inquiry,” to be resolved within 24 hours from filing.
Luistro said that the committees are looking forward to the approval of the petition which would give them access to the bank transactions of Cassandra Ong, following the last hearing where the committee chairpersons were “agitated” since “she kept on lying, despite the overwhelming evidence.”
“She kept denying that we was not linked to the POGO. There’s already so much evidence, she’s been identified by all the resource speakers…but she maintained that she was not connected to Lucky South.”
According to her personal observations, Luistro believes that Ong is coming up with ways to avoid being detained at the women’s correctional center.
“A big person is behind this Cassandra Ong. She’s only 24, not a highschool graduate, and yet she is the one who managed the 46 buildings of Whirdwind (Corporation) which allegedly were subleased to Lucky South 99.”
